Jack's Family
by BookWorm37
Summary: This got deleted accidentally. Now we have the entire story in four chapters. Please review! Add angst, action and humor to the genres. One day while Jack's a Brig. General a mysterious girl shows up on his doorstep. Sequel is A New Life.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, a few notes: YES, some of the facts in this story contradict each other, but I'm not going to go back and change them. I don't care. Oh, and Sam's starting rank is a full-fledged Colonel.

* * *

Chapter One

Brig. General Jack O'Neill stood up to answer the incessant ringing of his front doorbell. When he reached the door and opened it, expecting the three members of SG-1 or the pizza deliveryman, he was more than a little shocked to find a petite teen with dark brown hair that was very similar to the shade his used to be standing there instead. She had a suitcase at her feet and a duffle bag in her hand.

"Hi, Uncle Jonathan," she said in a very small voice.

"Hello Kristina," Jack responded. He stared at her for a few minutes in silence, taking in the sight of the seventeen year old before him.

The forest green eyed girl smiled weakly at him, "I guess you're wondering why I'm here."

"Ya think?"

Kristina looked at her feet for a minute before taking a deep breath and saying, "They kicked me out."

Jack ushered her into his house without a second thought. He steered her toward the couch, setting her duffle and suitcase down by the television. He sat her down on the couch and sat down by her, "What happened, Kristie?"

"I – before I say anything, I want you to promise me that you will let me finish without interrupting me." She looked Jack in the eye, "_Promise_, Jack."

Jack nodded, "I promise. Now tell me what happened."

"A month and a half ago I went to Melanie's birthday party. It was a fairly large gathering with about a quarter of our class there." She paused, taking in a shaky breath, "Someone must have drugged my drink because one minute I was dancing with Melanie's brother, Todd, and the next I was in Melanie's bed – naked. When I skipped my period this month, I got a home pregnancy test." She met her uncle's eyes, "When it came out positive, I went to the open door free clinic and found out for sure. I'm pregnant."

Jack was processing this information slowly, _too_ slowly for Kristie's comfort. "Say _something_, Jack!"

"Did your parents hear that story before they kicked you out?"

She shook her head, "No, they heard that I was pregnant and they wouldn't listen to anything after that. They just told me I had half an hour to pack my bags and leave before they threw me out."

"What are you going to do now?" Jack asked, concerned that his brother and sister-in-law would just throw their oldest daughter onto the streets.

"I was on my way to a friend's house, but decided to come and tell you first. At least that way you won't be shocked when Dad or Grandma calls to tell you."

"Which friend?"

"Clara."

"Last name."

"Smith."

"Mormon?"

"Yep."

"No."

"No?"

"I won't let my oldest niece stay at someone's house that I don't know. You're staying here and that's the end of it."

Tears welled in Kristie's eyes, "Thank you, Jack. I have a job, so I can pay rent. And I'll be going to school the whole time." She smiled broadly, "I'll even cook and clean for you. You still have that job that takes you away from home for a few days don't you?"

Jack smiled, proud of her memory, the last time he had seen her had been right after the second Abydos mission. "Yeah, I still have that job, but I don't have to go on so many trips now because last year I made Brig. General, and I'm now in command of that base."

Kristie's grin grew wider, "That's wonderful Jack! I'm so proud of you!"

Jack grinned, a grin he had saved for the only member of his family that had spoken with him after his divorce with Sara. Granted she had only been eight at the time, but Kristina's parents had stopped talking to him and even his own father didn't talk to him. All because they thought he was in the wrong and had sided with Sara.

"I knew you would be."

There was a compatible silence for a few minutes before Jack spoke again, "I'm going to put your stuff in the guest bedroom across the hall from the bathroom, okay?"

"That's fine, Jack. But, where's the bathroom, I _really_ need to pee?"

"Hey, Kristie?" Jack called a few minutes later from her new bedroom.

"What?" She asked, walking in.

"Can I take you up on that cooking offer right now? I have some work friends coming over and I think they would enjoy the O'Neill family secret recipe for chocolate-chip cookie dough."

"Sure, I'll go get started."

Chapter Two

When Colonel Samantha Carter pulled up into the driveway of her CO's house, she saw an unfamiliar silver Honda Civic that was parked next to Jack's – no _General O'Neill's_ truck.

She got out of her small car after parking behind General O'Neill, and walked up to the door. A few seconds after she had rung the doorbell, Jack opened the door and admitted her into his 'humble abode'.

"Hi, sir." Sam started, "Am I intruding? I saw another car in your driveway."

Jack smiled, "Yeah, that belongs to Kristie, and no, you're not intruding."

Sam smiled quickly, "Who?"

"Just a second and you can meet her." Jack waved to Sam to sit down on the couch before sitting in his favorite chair. "Hey, Kristie!" He called into the kitchen.

"What!"

"Come in here! There's someone I want you to meet!"

"One second! I'm almost done with this! Did you or your secret guest want something to drink?"

Jack turned to Sam, who was looking at him like he was a crazy man. "Carter?"

"A beer would be fine, sir."

"Two beers!"

"Nope! One beer and one spring water! You drink too much beer, Jack!"

Sam stifled a giggle at the voice coming from the kitchen as a young girl with very long brown hair and laughing green eyes came into view. She was carrying a bowl with a big spoon hanging out of it, two spring waters and a beer.

The young woman smiled at Sam before turning to Jack. "Here's your water, and the cookie dough." She turned back to Sam, "And here is your beer."

Sam smiled and took it from her. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the young woman elbowed Jack in the ribs; "Introductions are oh so very nice when they are made by someone, Jack!"

"Ow, you didn't have to elbow me!" He turned his attention to Sam, feigning hurt, "Carter, this is my niece, Kristina. Kristina, this is my 2IC, Colonel Samantha Carter."

Sam extended her hand to the young girl she now could identify as a member of the General's family. "It's nice to meet you." She glared at Jack playfully, "Frankly, it's nice to meet anyone from the General's family. We don't know anything about them."

Kristina smiled warmly and extended her hand, which Sam took. "It's nice to finally meet you, too. Jack talks incessantly of you, actually. And you can call me Kristie. My grandmother is the Kristina of the family."

"Thanks, you can call me Sam. So, what exactly does he say?" Sam asked - she was beginning to like this girl. "And why don't you call him uncle?"

Kristie laughed, "Jack, you were right! She does ask a lot of questions." She turned her attention back to Sam, "When I started to learn to talk, I tried calling him 'Uncle' a few times, but he always corrected me. Later, when I was about five or six, he said that me calling him uncle made him feel old. I've just always called him Jack. And he only says good things about you."

"Like what?"

Kristie sat down on the other side of Sam and turned toward her, "Well, there was this one time. I think it was the first time he mentioned you to me. He said that he had just come from the briefing for his new station under Cheyenne Mountain and that he had just met one amazing, attractive and I think he used the word saucy Captain Sam Carter." She raised one eyebrow as gracefully as Teal'c, "Challenging him to arm wrestling? Reproductive organs? I actually used that line on a guy about two years ago when he thought that the only reason I was on the debate team was because I had sex appeal." A grin of pride appeared on Jack's face.

"What happened?" Sam asked, curiously.

"Let's just say that he said it during a debate, I won and he got kicked off the team."

"Wow! Remind me never to get on your bad side!"

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about, it was you who originally said it."

The doorbell interrupted their conversation. Jack, who had been contentedly eating his cookie dough while listening to the conversation, was about to get up when Kristie waved him down and went to answer the door.

On the other side she found two formidable looking men. One was African – American and appeared to be about 6'4" and the other was white and just a few inches shorter. Both had the muscles of soldiers.

"Um, hi." The white one with glasses said.

Kristie sported the O'Neill family smirk, "Hi."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Kristina O'Neill, who are you?"

"I'm Daniel Jackson and this is T. Murray. It's very nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand.

Kristie took the offered hand and smiled as realization dawned on her youthful face. "OH! You're _that_ Dr. Jackson! It's very nice to meet the man who somehow always manages to break his glasses at least twice a month! And you must be Teal'c! Jack always talked fondly of your skill in the battle field."

Teal'c bowed his head in respect, as Daniel looked at this new person, confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jack's niece, Kristie. But I'm sure that that means nothing to you whatsoever as Jack _hates_ to talk about his family. I'm actually the only one that still talks to him. But please, I'm being rude! Come in; come in. Sam's already here."

Kristie ushered the two men into the living room and stayed standing as they sat, "Would you like something to drink?"

"A beer would be great."

"No, Jack talks a _lot_ about his old team. Including the fact that you can only hold two." Daniel shot a glare at Jack, who sheepishly looked down into the bowl on his lap.

"Then can I get some orange juice?"

"Sure. Teal'c, what would you like?"

"I would greatly enjoy some Diet Pepsi."

"Great, I'll be right back."

When Kristie had left the room, Daniel shot another glare at Jack. "She regulates who drinks alcohol?"

Sam chuckled, "She wouldn't even get the General a beer. She made him drink water."

Chapter Three

There was a sinking feeling in Kristie's stomach that she had come to recognize as the first sign that she was about to throw up. She quickly rose from the seat she was standing in, interrupting what Daniel was saying about some set of ruins in Egypt. It wasn't that she wasn't paying attention, she was actually thinking about painting her interpretation of the ruins.

Daniel stopped talking as Kristie stood, her eyes getting bigger by the second, "I'll be right back," she nearly whispered.

She ran from the room and into the bathroom, where sounds of someone's lunch and breakfast coming up were soon heard. Sam was about to get up to check on her but Jack held her back. "It's all right, she'll be fine."

"Jack!" Daniel said, irritated, "She's throwing up in there! She could be carrying something really serious!"

Jack met Daniel's gaze and gave the younger man a look that shut him up. "Oh, she's carrying something serious alright. She's carrying a baby."

"She's _what_?" both of the other Tauri in the room exclaimed.

Teal'c looked at them both calmly, "I believe O'Neill just informed us that Kristie O'Neill is pregnant."

Sam glared at Jack, "I heard, Teal'c. But why didn't he _tell_ us?"

Jack sighed; sounds of retching could still be heard from the bathroom. "I found out about ten minutes before you showed up, Carter. And I figured that if she wanted all of you to know, she would be the one to bring it up."

"Then why didn't she?" Daniel asked after he had sufficiently calmed down.

"Because her family – our family – kicked her out when she told them. I know what it feels like to live with that family and _believe_ me she's still thinking that most people are going to react to it like they did."

"Then why did she tell you?"

"I told Jack because when I was little and got into trouble, he was always the one to smooth over things with my parents." Kristie smiled stiffly as she sat down again. "We were always in the same boat, so to speak, at family reunions and holidays. No one talked to him except for me, and everyone looked at me as a nuisance because I did things that they considered 'not appropriate for a young respectable lady'. When I told my parents that I was pregnant, they looked at it as the proverbial straw and kicked me out."

The part about no one talking to Jack at family functions caught Sam's attention, "Why does everyone hate the General in your family, Kristie?"

Kristie looked at her uncle for permission to tell them the truth, with a look Jack told her what was okay for them to know. "Well, we are a very Catholic family and the divorce between Aunt Sara and Jack was blamed entirely on him." She grimaced, "It doesn't help matters that our family is one of the major 'clans' in Ireland and we're respected and looked up to. Whenever someone makes a huge mistake, they are disowned." At this she started giggling, and much to the surprise of the three others in the room, Jack joined in.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked them, with a strange look on his face.

As soon as Jack got the laughter under control, he explained, "The last patriarch of our clan, Connor O'Neill, was a misfit in his family and was disowned from his family himself. He was the only decent person left in our family besides the two of us. When he died ten years ago, he left me the cabin and lake in Minnesota because he knew that if he left it to anyone else they would sell it, and a substantial amount of money for both Kristie and myself. Everyone else got nothing."

Kristie started giggling again, "It tells you a lot about who he liked the most."

"So, what are you thinking about naming the babies?" Jack asked curiously.

"Jacqueline and Michael are top on my mind, Jack," Kristie responded plainly.

"And, who's your doctor?" Sam asked, concerned with the girl's welfare.

Kristie looked at her fondly. She was beginning to like this woman, "I was using the family doctor, but I'll probably have to find a new one since they kicked me out."

Jack and Sam locked eyes before Jack said, "I want you to use Dr. Fraiser."

Daniel furrowed his brow, "Jack, I'm not so sure that would be a good idea considering the nature of her work."

Kristie looked at the archeologist's worried expression and laughed, "I know all about the SGC, Dr. Jackson. There's no problem with that from my end."

"How is it that you know about Stargate Command, Kristie O'Neill?" Teal'c asked solemnly.

Jack and Kristie exchanged a look before she said, "I'll just show you." The young woman rose from her seat and left the room, only to return a few minutes later with a gray stone in her hand that looked remarkably like an Asgard communication device.

When she put it to her heart, the response was almost instantaneous. A voice SG1 recognized as Thor's penetrated the silence, "Kristie O'Neill, greetings."

"Hello, Thor," the girl said with a smile on her face at her shocked companions, "Would you mind beaming down, please? I'm in a secure place."

Moments later a blinding white flash of light filled the room. When it dissipated, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, Thor, was standing next to Kristie.

Chapter Four

Thor blinked as he registered the people in the room. He turned his head so he was looking up at Kristie, "Kristie O'Neill, you did not mention to me that there were others in the house."

Kristie smiled like a child who was caught with their hand in the cookie jar, "Well, you didn't exactly ask. And plus, I thought the Asgard could detect how many life forms were present in a room."

"We can. However I did not do so before I beamed down. I trusted that you would not compromise me."

"And I didn't. You know all of these people."

This brought Daniel out of his shock at seeing the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet beaming into his best friend's house in the presence of a civilian. "What the hell is going on here?" he demanded harshly.

Jack winced at the younger man's tone. "Calm down, Daniel. It's nothing to get excited over."

Daniel sent Jack a look that would have made Ba'al quiver in fear. "_Nothing to get excited about_! Jack! First we find out that you _have_ a niece, and then we find out that she's _pregnant_, and finally to put the icing on the cake – we find out that she knows Thor! How the hell is that 'nothing' to get excited about?"

Kristie couldn't help but start laughing at Daniel's outburst. When he shot her a glare, she just started to laugh even harder.

Sam, realizing the hilarity in the situation, soon joined her. One by one, all the Tauri in the room and the sole Jaffa started laughing.

Thor just stood there blinking, attempting to comprehend what was so funny.

When everyone had finally calmed down, Kristie led Thor to the couch so he could sit down and then sat down in the seat she had vacated earlier.

"I'll explain everything, just promise no more outbursts like that Daniel."

Daniel looked at the ground sheepishly, "I promise."

"Okay, to start, the first time Thor visited me, I was about four years old. He has visited me ever since then, telling me about the Asgard, Goa'uld, Tok'ra, Knox, Furlings and the Ancients." She smiled, remembering her childhood, "I wasn't really given very much attention as a child. My parents were and still are always off at parties and trips around the world. Thor got me through all that. Every changing Nanny and maid that my parents hired for me, he was with me through it all." She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she had to say next.

"About nine years ago, Thor showed up to give me a birthday gift. While he was showing me how it worked, he said that he had met a different O'Neill. When he said that it was Jack, I got rather excited and asked if I could share what I knew of the Asgard with him. Thor consented and ever since then I have shared all my knowledge of the Asgard with Jack and he has shared all the really funny stories of SG-1 and the other SG teams with me."

Sam and Daniel were in shock with this declaration. "Does this mean that you have knowledge of the Stargate, Kristie O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, trying to get a better grip on things.

The young woman nodded, "Thor told me all about the Stargate system."

"Why?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Why what?"

"Why did he tell you about the Stargate?"

"Thor told me that I was special and I had the right to know."

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Daniel, Teal'c and Sam all came to the conclusion that Dr. Fraiser as Kristie's doctor would be the right course of action.

When this decision had finally been made, Thor turned to his young Tauri friend, "Kristie O'Neill, I beamed a gift for you into your room. I really must get back to my ship now." He stood and looked at everyone in the room, "Goodbye O'Neill, Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson, Teal'c. And especially you, Kristie O'Neill. I hope you remain well."

Moments later a flash of white light filled the room and when it vanished, Thor was gone.

Kristie yawned quietly. "I think I'm going to go to bed. This kid is making me sleep almost twice as much as I used to."

"That's a _good_ thing, Kristie," Jack quipped. "You almost _never _sleep. You're almost as bad as the science twins over here."

Kristie smiled as she left the room, "Goodnight everyone. It was very nice to meet all of you. _Finally_."

Chapter Five

Daniel rounded on Jack as soon as he heard Kristie's bedroom door click shut. "So, Jack? Want to play a game?"

The Brigadier General eyed the younger man suspiciously, "And what 'game' would that be, Space monkey?"

"Twenty questions."

Jack glared at him, "I don't really feel like 'playing' that right now."

Now was Sam's turn to add wood to the fire, "Oh, come on General! It would be fun. And we can make a little wager about it too."

"Carter, what would we bet? Twenty questions is _not_ a game of competition."

"Indeed it is, O'Neill," Teal'c said in his usual monotone voice.

"Not the way these two play, T-man."

"If you answer all twenty of Daniel's questions and all twenty of mine _truthfully_ then you win. If not, we win."

Jack thought it over for a few moments before asking Sam in a husky voice, "What do I win?"

Sam blushed profusely, before leaning over to whisper something in his ear that made his eyes bug out temporarily. "Okay, I'm game. But if _I _win, you have to…" Jack leaned over and whispered her part of the deal.

By the shade of red Sam's face got, the other two men in the room had a general idea of what Jack had bet her. "Alright, I'm game," Sam said after she regained the ability to speak.

Daniel looked back and forth between two of his closest friends, trying to piece together what they may have said to one another. "Okay. First question: How big _is_ your family?"

"I am the seventh child out of eleven. I have six brothers and four sisters. My father was the youngest out of seven boys, my mother the second oldest out of four children. My siblings, in age order are Bran, Brendan, Devin, Doran, Finnbar, Finley, me, Líle, Kayley, Kiera, and finally Mave. Bran and Brendan are twins, Devin and Doran are twins, Finnbar and Finley are twins, my twin is Líle, Kayley and Kiera are twins and Mave's twin was a stillbirth. Bran, Kayley and Mave are all not married. Devin is married but has no children. Doran is married and has six children named Kristina, Sarah, Babette, Luke, Martha and Thomas. Finnbar has five daughters named Ada, Abigail, Astra, Alena, and Alexia. As you can tell his wife and him loved the letter 'a'. Líle has eight children named Bridgette, Athena, Paden, Padma, Gabe, Melissa, Ean and Una. Kiera only has two children right now, Peter and Paul. And I think that about sums up my family."

Silence filled the room as everyone tried to process the amount of siblings, nieces and nephews Jack had. Kristie came out of her new room dressed in pajamas and paused at the sight before her. She turned to her uncle and asked very calmly, "You told them how big the family was didn't you?"

Jack smiled rather smugly, "Yep. It's the first time in nearly ten years that they've been speechless. What are you doing up? I thought you went to bed."

"Oh, I wanted a glass of water, and I wanted to let Sam get a look at the new toy Thor left in my room."

Sam's head shot up at the mention of a new 'toy' for her to look at. "Thor left you a piece of Asgard technology freely?"

Kristie smiled, "I've known him for almost thirteen years. He leaves me things that are broken, and I fix them for him."

"Why?"

"Something about 'dumb ideas'. Anyway, I thought you might like a chance to look at it before I do anything."

Sam grinned, already thinking of what it might be. "I love to."

"Great, I'll just give it to Jack in the morning so you don't ruin your team night with mechanics." The young girl then turned on her uncle. "I have school tomorrow so I don't want you four being really loud and I _don't_ want to wake up to find an uncle with a hangover. Is that understood?"

Jack looked down sheepishly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now I'll be asleep, so don't burn the house down." With that she walked into the kitchen, retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge, and went back to bed.

"Napoleonic power monger," Jack whispered under his breath.

"I heard that!" Kristie yelled before shutting her door.

Chapter Six

Daniel, shocked at the turn of events, continued his interrogation after Kristie had gone back to bed. "Okay, second question: What happened to your other two brothers? You left out Brendan and Finley."

A sudden wave of grief washed over Jacks entire demeanor as he stared at the younger man, "I didn't exclude them at all. They both died in a plane crash ten years ago."

"What happened?" Sam asked in a small voice.

"Does that count as question three?"

"Yes."

"I was flying them both to Ireland for Devin's wedding and our plane crashed when there was some engine trouble off the coast." Jack's eyes glazed over as he remembered that fateful day.

"Number four: Is that why you were disowned?" Daniel asked.

"Partly, that was just the proverbial straw."

"What else factored into it?"

"My divorce with Sarah, Charlie's death, my being in the Air Force, my suicidal behavior…" He smiled coldly, "God forbid that any _O'Neill_ screw up."

"Suicidal behavior?" Daniel asked in a whisper.

Jack's eyes flashed extreme anger, "You know what, Carter? You win, I _can't_ and _won't_ do this with you."

"No," Sam whispered, "We had no right to bring up memories like that with you. But, please, can I ask you one more question?"

"I reserve the right not to answer."

"That's fine. Do you know who the father of Kristie's baby is?"

Jack furrowed his brow in a frown, "No. She said that she passed out and was raped."

Now it was Sam's turn to frown, "No one deserves to go through that. Just thank the higher powers she can't remember it." The look of utter helplessness that passed over her face was enough to send all three of her teammates silently to her side.

"Sam, were you…?" Daniel couldn't even bring himself to finish the question.

She nodded silently, "It was a long time ago. I'd really rather not talk about it."

Jack nodded, "Alright then, I think it's time for the movie of the night. It's Teal'c's choice."

The somber jaffa grinned as he pulled out the DVD from his bag; it was _Star Wars Episode 5_. "I believe that this film would be the next one to view in chronological order of the series."

"Okay, T. Put it on while I get the drinks and popcorn," Jack said rising from his seat.

When he had left the room, Daniel turned on Sam, "So, what did you win?"

Sam's crimson face made the man's thoughts go immediately to the gutter; "He has to stop calling me 'Carter' when we're not at work."

When Jack came back into the room, he found Daniel doubled over in laughter, Sam red as a beet, and Teal'c simply sitting there with an amused look on his face.

After the movie was over, Sam glanced around the room and found Daniel curled up in the chair asleep – Teal'c attentively watching the closing credits, and Jack staring at her intently in the glow of the television.

Their eyes met for a brief second and Jack relayed to Sam his concern for her after her confession. Sam's look conveyed back to him that it was all right and that she'd tell him later.

Sam gently woke Daniel up, as Teal'c turned off the DVD player and put the movie back in his bag.

Jack cleared away the glasses, while Teal'c picked Daniel up and took him to the making a very quiet exit.

Jack shut the door after the two men and turned to find Sam closer to him than he'd thought. Their noses were a hair's breath away from one another and before either had time to process what was happening; their lips were locked in a passion filled kiss that spoke volumes.

The two broke a few minutes later out of a need of oxygen. Jack rested his forehead against Sam's and asked, "What was that for?"

Sam smiled impishly, "Oh, I don't know. I guess it was for being you. And possibly because I'm kinda horny right now."

Jack could feel the blood leave his face as he took in what she just said. She kissed him softly on the lips before moving past him to the door, "Bye bye, flyboy."

As she sauntered out to her car, Jack watched from the doorway, flabbergasted at the kiss that had just occurred. After shutting the door and turning around, he found Kristie staring at him intently with her head cocked to one side, "Smooth move… flyboy."

Chapter Seven

A week later, Kristie was getting dressed for school, and upon trying to zip up her favorite pair of jeans came to a frightening discovery – they wouldn't zip up. Try as she might, the damn zipper just wouldn't zip up.

She walked into the kitchen where her uncle was eating breakfast and said, "Uhh, Jack?"

"What, Kris?" He said, not even looking up from his coffee.

"I have a little problem here."

He looked up and saw her holding the zipper of her pants, "They're too small."

"Try a different pair," he suggested helpfully.

"This is the sixth and last pair of jeans that I own. None of them fit anymore."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Kristie sighed and sat down, "Call my school and tell them that I'm sick so I can go shopping today and buy bigger clothes."

Jack looked at her like she had just asked him to explain quantum physics to her. "No. I'll have Carter meet you here after school so you can go shopping then. You are not missing school without a better reason than 'none of my pants fit anymore'."

Kristie glared at him, "You are so mean."

Jack grinned, "I've had _lots_ of practice."

Kristie sighed again and got up from the table, "I guess I'll just have to be a little more formal today. I have a couple of skirts that have elastic waists that should still fit."

Kristie, dressed in an outfit that she normally saved for church, was waiting by her locker for the first class of the day to start, when three girls her age came up and started talking to her.

"Hey, Kris!" The first girl, with deep brown shoulder length hair, said, "You never actually told me where you were staying last week."

Kristie smiled, suppressing the queasiness that she was starting to feel with a saltine. "Hey Clara. My uncle, Jack, is letting me stay with him for the moment."

"Isn't he the one that got disowned?" the second girl inquired.

Clara shot her a look, "That's not a very nice thing to ask, Melanie."

Kristie smirked, "No, it's all right. Yes, Mel, he's the one that got disowned."

The third girl, who knew nothing of Kristie's pregnancy, had the gall to say, "My God Kris! It looks like you've put on a few pounds, you're starting to look like a cow."

The other three girls glared at their red headed 'friend'. "Gee, _thanks_, Susanna. It's not every day that a girl becomes _pregnant_ and gets to here from one of her _friends_ that she looks like a cow!" There was a sudden gust of wind that sent the cold-hearted Susanna plummeting to the ground with her skirt hiked up revealing **Barbie** underwear. Strangely enough, the wind left the other three girls untouched.

The bell rang, summoning all the high schoolers to their first class.

It was during second hour that Kristie's day got a little bit more interesting. She was in biology listening to the substitute explain the day's assignment.

"Today, we are going to be looking at the organs of a pig. But, as always, you have to find the organs first – by dissecting said pig," the middle-aged man stated calmly.

At the sound of the assignment, Kristie started to feel nauseous again. She quickly pulled out another saltine and began to nibble on it.

"There's no eating in this class, Ms…O'Neill is it," the substitute, Mr. O'Brien shouted. "Put that away or go to the principal's office."

The class, who had heard a rumor that the beautiful Kris was pregnant, looked at her to gage her response. "Mr. O'Brien," the young girl said calmly, "Either I eat this cracker and am able to do the assignment, or I don't and I throw up on your shoes. Take your pick."

The class erupted in laughter at the antics of the impertinent O'Neill. Mr. O'Brien, however, was not easily swayed in his resolve. He turned to the student teacher that just so happened to be Jonathan O'Neil – Jack's clone – and said to him, "Mr. O'Neil would you please escort Ms. O'Neill to the principal's office."

Now it was John's turn to stand up for the niece that he hadn't seen in years, "You know, Mr. O'Brien, you could get in a lot of trouble if it was found out that you were discriminating against a pregnant student." John's eyes got that dark shade of brownish-black that Jack's subordinates and enemies had learned to fear as he continued, "You wouldn't want the school board to find that out would you?"

Mr. O'Brien was outraged, "Fine! I'll take her to the principal's office myself! Stay here and watch the classroom _Mr. O'Neil_."

With that the over dramatic teacher grabbed Kristie's hand and flew out the door to the infamous Principal Slone's office. Halfway there Kristie could no longer control her stomach, and she threw up everything she had consumed for breakfast right on the man's shoes.

"You're going to pay for that you little bitch!" the man hissed in a low tone that only Kristie could hear before dragging her into the office.

When the secretary saw the state of one of her favorite students, Kristina O'Neill, she immediately took the trashcan from under her desk and brought it over to where the young woman had been deposited in a heap on the floor by the furious substitute.

"It's all right, Kristina," Mrs. Shirley cooed as she stroked the girl's hair.

She turned her attention onto the sub and demanded, "What happened? Dragging a pregnant teen _anywhere_ is a crime, Mr. O'Brien."

The man was indignant, "She was eating in class and when I called her on it she spoke back to me, refused to do what I told her to, and then on the way here she threw up on my shoes!"

The elderly woman looked at the man's shoes and tried to suppress a smirk. She really didn't like the man all that much and thought that he probably had deserved it. Mrs. Shirley looked back down at Kristie, who had stopped throwing up and was now sitting there quietly, "What happened in class, dear?"

"We were suppose to dissect pigs today and just the sound of it was making me feel ill." The young woman explained. "I knew from last week when we dissected frogs that if I just had a cracker my stomach would settle, so I took one out of my bag. He yelled at me that food wasn't allowed in class and so I very politely asked him if he would rather me eat the saltine and do the assignment or not eat it and throw up on his shoes. Mr. O'Neil then told him that it was against the law to discriminate against pregnant teens and that was when Mr. O'Brien took my hand and dragged me out of the classroom. My stomach was already upset so it wasn't long before it just came up."

Laughter coming from the direction of Mr. Slone's office caused all three of them to turn and stare. The man was dressed in a crisp gray suit that perfectly set off his gray eyes and gave him a distinguished air. After a few minutes, Mr. Slone spoke, "Mr. O'Brien, by the sounds of it, you deserved what she gave you."

"Mr. Slone," the angry sub cried, "I demand that her parents be called immediately and that she be suspended!"

Those remarks made Mr. Slone _very_ angry, _very_ fast. "Mr. O'Brien," he said in a dangerously low voice, "You know _nothing_ about this girl other than that she is pregnant and threw up on your shoes. If you had _any_ idea about the family she comes from you would think twice about what you demand." He turned his attention to Kristie and in a much kinder tone asked, "Do you want me to call your uncle?"

The girl knew exactly which uncle he was referring to and nodded silently. Mr. Slone went back into his office and shut the door before making the call.

A few minutes later the door opened again and a very smug principal came out. He looked at Kristie and said, "General O'Neill is unable to make the trip because of a phone meeting he has with President Williams in a few minutes. He's sending three in his place." At the sound of that Kristie began to smile. "One Colonel Sam Carter, a Dr. Daniel Jackson and a T. Murray. Do you know who they are, Kristina?"

"Yes, they're friend's of my uncle. Sam Carter is his 2IC," the young woman said proudly.

"2IC?" Mr. O'Brien asked confused.

Mrs. Shirley snickered at his lack of knowledge with military terms. Colorado Springs _was_, after all, home to a large military base. "It means second in command. The general is sending his second in command to take care of this issue personally. Now, if you three will excuse me, I have work I need to get back to." At the proclamation of his student's family standing with the president, Mr. O'Brien found it difficult to breath and was suddenly inclined to make it known to all that he was in the right and Kristie in the wrong.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all arrived on the scene of the principal's office to find Kristie silently crying, Mr. Slone trying to comfort her, and Mr. O'Brien sitting yelling that he had done nothing wrong.

Sam chose this moment to make their presence known, "Silence!" she yelled in her command voice.

Mr. O'Brien stopped talking and turned toward the voice, only to find two muscular men and a slim woman, all three dressed in BDU's. Sam glared at the teacher before directing her attention toward Mr. Slone.

"Now, Mr. Slone, what is this all about? General O'Neill said that there was a mishap at the school involving Kristie," Sam asked politely.

"Well, Colonel Carter, it appears that Kristina threw up on Mr. O'Brien's shoes after eating in class, and defying an order from Mr. O'Brien," the man explained.

Daniel went over to Kristie and she latched herself onto him like if she let go she would die. He managed to get around her vice grip enough to get something out of his pocket and hand it to her. She took it and smiled, "Thanks Daniel," she said as she began eating the chocolate.

Sam smiled at Daniel's common sense; of course a pregnant O'Neill would crave chocolate! Tears were still streaming down the girl's face, so Sam looked pointedly at Daniel, he got the hint and released Kristie to Sam's care and before going to help Teal'c deal with the insolent teacher.

Sam hugged Kristie as she cried her eyes out. "Shh, it's going to be all right, Kristie. It's going to be all right."

When the pregnant girl had finished crying her eyes out, Sam wiped the tearstains away with her thumbs. "Now, what happened?"

Kristie started explaining everything that took place – but to the dismay of Mr. O'Brien, she explained it all in French, a language he didn't know.

When she got to the part about Mr. O'Brien calling her a bitch, Daniel stopped his yelling at the man and punched him. The man went down, and stayed down. "_No one_," Daniel said, fury evident in his voice, "I mean _no one_, calls Kristina O'Neill a bitch and gets away with it, we could have you arrested for inappropriate behavior, Jack O'Neill still might."

"In the land where I come from." Teal'c started formally; "If a man calls a woman an inappropriate term, her family and her are within their rights to challenge him to a battle to the death." Teal'c's eyes bore down into the teacher's skull, "Be grateful we are _not_ in my home land."

Chapter Eight

While Teal'c and Daniel where busy dealing with the scumbag of a teacher, Sam was busy comforting Kristie and calling Jack. She sighed silently, she had always thought of him as Jack, now if only she could _say_ it out loud.

He picked up on the third ring, "O'Neill."

"Hi, sir, it's me," Carter responded into the phone.

"What's up? Did you get the situation taken care of?"

"Yes, sir. Her teacher called her a bitch after she threw up on his shoes. When we arrived she was in tears, sir."

The anger that Jack was trying to control was clearly evident in his voice, "He did _what_? I am _so_ gonna kick his ass!"

Sam smiled, "Actually sir, Daniel beat every one else to it."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"As soon as Kristie told us what happened, Daniel decked the teacher. I think he broke his nose, sir. The man also has a pretty bad split lip. I think Daniel's been getting lessons from the Marines on how to throw a good right hook."

Jack chuckled, "Yeah, it's amazing to think that when we met him he was a wimpy archeologist."

"Yes sir." She paused for a moment before continuing; "I'm going to send T and Daniel back to the base so that you can reprimand him like a good CO. I'm going to spend the rest of the day with Kristie."

"You do that, Carter. See you tonight probably. Bye, Carter."

"Good bye, sir."

Sam closed her cell phone and looked pointedly at Daniel, "General O'Neill _actually_ thought it was funny." She turned her attention to Teal'c, "T, could you make sure Daniel gets back to the base in one piece? The General would _hate_ it if he got left out of _all_ the fun."

Teal'c bowed his head gracefully. "Indeed I shall, Colonel Carter."

As they left, Sam turned her attention to the girl at her feet, "Come on, I'll go with you to get your stuff, then we're out of here. Mrs. Shirley, where's the sign out sheet?"

The secretary got out the necessary form and after Sam had signed out the girl; they left to get the bag that had been forgotten in the science classroom.

Kristie decided to let Sam drive, since she was still too emotional to see clearly. When they had piled into the car, Sam started the engine and tried for conversation, "So, Kris, where do you want to go?"

"Burger King first. I have a craving for one of their chocolate milk shakes and French-fries. Then we need to go shopping, so I can get maternity clothes," the girl told her, without taking her gaze off the window.

Sam smiled, as she wondered if it was a trait of all O'Neill's to think of their stomachs first, other necessities later. "Great. Now, the big question is: where do you want to go shopping?"

"There are some pretty good stores in the mall, and we can do other shopping while we're there."

"Fine by me."

After they had eaten their fill, the two found themselves wandering around the mall, buying maternity clothes and other miscellaneous items. when they saw an ad for the movie _The Phantom of the Opera_.

"God, I hated the ending to that movie," Sam complained.

Kristie glanced at her and smiled, "I know what you mean. Jack hadn't seen it so I made him sit down and watch it with me two days ago. He _liked _the ending. We got into this big argument about what the movie was actually all about."

Sam was rather shocked at this, "How could he like that ending? Kristine only wanted to be loved, it didn't matter which one of them she ended up with as long as they loved her. Raoul didn't love her as much as the Phantom did. He liked the fact that she ended up with 'second best'?"

As the words exited her mouth, Sam could see the parallels between the movie and her own life. Sam had felt so torn when she was with Pete only the previous year. She loved him so much, but it took him buying them a house and seeing Jack with Kerry Johnson for her to realize that she wasn't _in_ love with him. But still, even now, Jack wouldn't even take the initiative and confirm that he was in love with her.

"All that had mattered to Kristine was that the man she ended up with loved her and was in love with her," Sam said in a quiet and meek voice.

Kristie nodded as she stopped in her tracks in front of a window display for ballroom gowns.

"Oh, Sam!" She cried happily, "Look at that black number right there. It would look perfect on you."

Sam eyed the dress her young companion was talking about. At first glance, it looked like any other black princess cut dress, but if you looked closer you could see what made this dress unique. It was strapless, with a shallow cut in the front to show off a little bit of cleavage on the wearer, it came to a defined waist, and then flared out gracefully to the floor. The thing that had caught the eyes of both women was that the skirt of the dress was covered in a sapphire blue flower pattern that looked interestingly enough like lotus blossoms.

"Sam you _have_ to try on that dress!" Kris cried as she dragged her friend into the store.

Sam struggled half-heartedly. She really did want to try on the dress, but the store it came from was notorious for their overly high prices. "Kris I have nowhere to wear a dress like that."

Kris smiled impishly at the older woman, "You'll find some place to wear it. I heard yesterday, that the president was planning on throwing a black and white ball, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the program."

Sam looked at her, shocked at the news, "I guess General O'Neill told you that?"

"Actually, I picked up his cell phone when he was in the shower, and the president told me." She cocked her head to one side, very much like the way Jack did, "He invited me also, it's in three months so I'm not going shopping for a dress until about two weeks before hand. Now go and try that thing on! If you like it, then it will be my gift to you."

"I can't ask you to do that," Sam protested while fingering the material.

"You didn't. If you want that dress for the ball then I'll buy it for you – now scoot!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Chapter Nine

Sam thought that the dress was from heaven. There was only a very thin layer of tool underneath it, and beneath that, closest to her skin, was a silk slip. When she tried on the dress, she felt like a princess, it accentuated her curves, as if it was made for her. The blue thread that formed the lotuses on the skirt, was tinted slightly with silver causing it to twinkle in the light.

She walked out of the room, and found the shop girl and Kristie watching her expectantly. When Kris saw the look on Sam's face she turned back to the other girl, "We'll take it."

Sam went back into the dressing room to change back into her clothes and smiled, she was actually going to own this magnificent dress. Silently she wondered what Jack would think of it all – his niece spending a small fortune on a gown for Sam, and what he would think when he saw Sam in said gown.

After it was bought and paid for, Sam tried, for the better part of an hour, to get Kristie to show her how much it had cost. The younger woman fervently refused to show the receipt, even to the point of threatening to swallow it if Sam didn't shut up.

"Now, we need to find your accessories for that wonderful dress. I know the perfect little jewelers that should have what you need in way of jewelry," Kris stated expertly.

The two left the mall with enough bags to rival everyone else. Kris got behind the wheel, and took Sam to a small jewelers that she had seen many times before, but never entered – it had always appeared too insignificant.

Inside the shop seemed well lit, and contained many priceless beauties. An older looking man, who appeared to be about sixty, came out of the back room, and grinned when he saw his customers.

"Kristie," he said as he gave her a hug. "How are you?"

She smiled warmly in return, "I'm doing as well as can be expected, Stuart." Kristie turned to Sam, "Sam, this is my families jeweler, Stuart Comet. Stuart, this is one of Jack's friends, Samantha Carter."

Stuart held out his hand for the young woman to shake, "So you're the famous Samantha Carter? You have no idea how often young Jack comes in here talking about you." Sam blushed profusely at his words as he let go of her hand, "And what's this I hear, young lady about you being pregnant?" He turned on Kristie with mock hurt, "Why didn't you tell me? Here I found out because that father of yours came in to buy a gift for your mother without you." Stuart shuddered, "That man has _no _taste in gems whatsoever."

Kristie smiled, "I only found out last week. I have my next appointment with the doctor tomorrow actually."

"How many are there?" he asked.

Her smiled turned into a full-fledged grin and she looked down at her toes, "Dr. Fraiser said that she could hear at least two heart beats but she wasn't positive that there weren't more. We should know for sure tomorrow."

Stuart grinned like a fool, he loved Kristie like the daughter he'd never had. This news was some of the best he had gotten in months. "So, what are you looking for?"

"We're looking for some sapphire and silver based jewelry to go with a black ball gown on Sam," Kristie explained. "I was thinking a whole set."

Stuart smiled, "I have just the thing." He went back behind the counter and pulled out a necklace that consisted of three teardrop shaped sapphires evenly spaced and separated by seven smaller circular diamonds.

"Oh, wow," Sam said as Stuart carefully removed it from the stand and put it on Sam's slender neck. The middle sapphire hung right below her collarbone. Stuart then pulled out the bracelet and earrings that went with the necklace. The color of the sapphires was the exact same as Sam's eyes and made her look like a princess.

"Now we need the ring," Kristie said.

"No," Stuart said pointedly.

"Why? It's right there," Kristie questioned, pointing to the ring that she knew went with the rest of the set.

"It has already been sold. The buyer is supposed to pick it up tomorrow."

"It's all right, Kristie," Sam said to the younger girl, "I think a ring would over do it a little."

Kristie nodded, "I think you're right." She got out her credit card and handed it to the shopkeeper. "Just put it on here."

At that moment the bell attached to the door ringed and a woman about fifty years old came running into the shop, "Stuart I need your help!" she said exasperated. "It's Athena's birthday next week and I don't have anything for her yet." It was then that she noticed the other customers in the room. "Kristie?"

Kristie looked down, ashamed, "Hello Aunt Líle."

Líle Masters, the twin of Jack O'Neill smiled at her niece, "Your father told me what happened." She winced, "Or at least all that he knows. Where are you staying now?"

"With Jack."

Líle nodded, she had expected as much. She remembered the second woman in the room, and turned her attention to her, "And you might be?"

"This is Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter. She works with Jack," Kristie explained in a tone that told her aunt not to press the matter.

Líle smiled warmly at the other woman who was occupied in taking off the jewelry she had tried on. "It's nice to meet you, Samantha. I'm Líle Masters, Jack's twin."

Sam smiled a little nervously back and took the offered hand, "It's nice to meet you."

Kristie glanced down at her watch, when Stuart came back out moments later, the jewelry all bagged and ready to go. "Oh my gosh, Sam! We need to get going now, or Jack will have a fit when he gets home from work. It's already 1700 hours."

Sam took the bag that contained her new accessories and followed Kristie out to the car. "It was nice to meet you, Líle!" Sam called as the door to the shop closed after them.

When the duo arrived back at Jack's house ten minutes later, they found food on the table, and Jack in the living room, watching a hockey game beer in hand.

"Did you guys have fun?" he asked, seeing all the shopping bags the two held.

"Yep," Kristie replied, laughing at the way Jack looked at Sam.

Chapter Ten

Dinner that night was a beef pot roast, potatoes, and carrots – all cooked by, none other than, Jack O'Neill.

The trio ate in silence, for the most part. Kristie tried to concentrate on her meal, as opposed to dwelling on the glances Jack and Sam shared. Jack seemed to be preoccupied through the whole meal, while Sam tried to gage how bad "it" was.

When the food was being cleared away Jack stood up to do the dishes. Kristie waved him back down, "You cooked, I'll clean up."

Jack sighed and sat back down, "I don't exactly know if putting frozen food in a crock pot counts as actually 'cooking'." He winked at Sam, "But if it will get me out of dishes…"

Kristie walked back in briskly, "Do you _want_ to do the dishes? Because Sam got an outfit today that I really want to see the full effect of."

This statement made Jack perk up. "What outfit?"

"No, no, no. You don't get to see it yet." Kristie informed him, "It's for the SGC's anniversary ball. So, do you want to do the dishes or not?"

"No, no, it's all right. By all means, you do the dishes," Jack waved her back into the kitchen before following Sam into the living room.

Sam sat down on the couch with a sigh, "That was really good, sir." She eyed him warily, "I didn't even know you _owned_ a crock pot – let alone knew how to use one."

Jack put his hand over his heart in mock pain, "Why, Colonel, I'm surprised at you. Don't you know by now that I have _many_ hidden talents?"

Sam smiled knowingly at him, before making a complete 180 with the topic, "What's bothering you, sir? Usually you're not this quiet."

Jack rose from the chair he was sitting in and began to pace, "I talked with the president today." He paused, before sitting back down next to Sam, "He told me some very frightening news."

"What's wrong, Jack?" Kristie asked on her way from the kitchen doorway to the vacated chair. "What did he say?"

He looked down at his hands. "They're going public."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Eleven

Sam's eyes bugged out in shock, "Why? When?"

"Next Sunday night there will be a live press conference at the White House. They want all the 'big players' in D.C. for it." He looked up, confusion in his eyes, "For some unknown reason this includes Jacob, Ishta, Thor and Kristie."

At the mention of her name Kristie shot a look at her uncle. "It's because of the gene manipulation Loki preformed on me, and what I am now."

"Okay," Jack started, annoyed. "_That's_ the thing I don't understand – _what_ are you?"

Kristie winced slightly at his tone, "Thor explained it to me this way: You know that in most religions, and all throughout mythology the Earth is thought of as a woman, right? A Mother Earth that is responsible for all life and can control the elements, understand?" She paused before finishing, "Basically, I'm a lesser version of Mother Earth. Thor called me an 'elemental'."

Jack and Sam looked at one another then back at Kristie, not even trying to hide the shock they felt.

"How? What powers do you have?" Sam sputtered out, after a few minutes of silence and fish imitations.

Kristie smiled; she knew where this was going. "I'm telepathic but _only_ when I enter a person's mind. I _don't_ do it often because it is the ultimate invasion of privacy. I also have prophetic dreams and dreams that look into the past sometimes."

Jack eyed her warily again, "Have you _ever_ looked into _my_ mind?" he asked harshly.

Kristie was aghast, "How could you even _think_ that! I would _never _do that to you or any one else I respect without their permission! _Never_!"

Silence reigned again; this time to be broken by Sam, "It's getting late, I better get going home. Thanks for dinner, sir."

She stood, and was about to leave, when Kristie called after her, "Why didn't you give up when he was on Endora?"

The older woman turned back sharply and looked at the girl, "_What_?"

Kristie looked her square in the eye, "When Jack was trapped on Endora, why didn't you give up?" Without waiting for a reply she turned to her uncle, "When the entity – and Jolinar – were inside of Sam, why wouldn't you give up on finding a way to get them out?" The young woman stood gracefully and turned to go, saying: "The president will contact you in the next week, about appointing joint commanders to the SGC. Goodnight."

Sam looked at Jack. Jack looked at Sam. Their eyes met with mirrored expressions of fear, want and love.

They were like that for some time before Jack's raspy voice filled the air, "Why didn't you give up on me?"

"I couldn't," she replied; voice shaking, "And I knew you would do the same for me." She reclaimed her seat at his side – just a little closer than before.

Jack let out a snort, "I'm not so sure that I _could_, Sam. You rewrote the _laws of physics_ to bring me back. Frankly I'm not that smart."

"Don't downplay your IQ, sir. I saw your files." She looked up at him again, "Why didn't you give up on me?"

"Because I love you," he said – not even registering the words in his brain until they were out of his mouth.

They stared at each other; eyes wide at this declaration.

"Listen, Carter," Jack began, "You don't have to pay _any_ attention to what I just said…"

Sam silenced him with a finger to his lips, "I love you, too." She stared deeply into his eyes, willing him to understand how much she loved him, before allowing her lips to follow her finger to his mouth.

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, when Kristie went into the kitchen after her shower, she found Sam and Jack eating breakfast together.

The young woman bounded up to the table, gave them both hugs and asked in a very serious tone; "Does this mean I get a new aunty?"

Jack threw a Fruit Loop at her, as all three of them burst out laughing.

"Okay," Jack said after they had all calmed down, "Kris, I'm going to drive you to school today and send a member of SG-10 to pick you up for your appointment. Is that all right?"

Kristie did a perfect mock salute, "Sir, yes, sir! May I inquire as to his name, so I don't get the wrong car?"

"Don't be a smart ass," Jack glared at her half-heartedly. "His name is Captain Jeffery O'Connor. He's career Air Force, so don't give him a hard time about the name thing."

"I wouldn't _dream_ of it, Jack. It's not everyday that I get to meet someone who is from a family thoroughly despised by mine."

Kristie made it through her first four hours with minimal mishap – she only had to leave the classroom twice to deal with morning sickness and that horrid substitute was gone. Mr. O'Neil had permanently replaced Mr. O'Brien, and being the clone of her uncle, was very paternal in his treatment of her.

Lunchtime, however, was a completely different story.

She had just stepped out of fourth hour, when a hand grabbed her arm. Kris turned to see who it was – prepared to inflict serious damage to his body, when she came face to face with Melanie's older brother.

She sighed in relief, "Todd, you scared the hell out of me! Don't do that to people – especially when they're pregnant."

The blond eighteen-year-old smiled nervously, "Sorry, Kris, I just really need to talk to you."

"Well, come on then. I've got to put this stuff back in my locker. What's up?"

"Did you get pregnant at Mel's party?"

"As far as I know, why?"

"I was the only one you slept with that night."

Kristie was way beyond shock at this point, "I slept with _you_?"

Todd sighed, fearfully, "You don't remember?"

"No, as far as I was concerned I passed out while dancing with you."

"More like blacked out. You were _definitely_ awake when we had sex. Is it mine?"

The infamous O'Neill anger welled within Kristie, "First of all, that would be _they_ – _not it_. And second of all, if you're telling the truth and you were the only one I slept with, then yes they are your _handiwork_."

Surprise was evident on Todd's face and in the hesitation he displayed before answering, "Wait a minute, Kris, just _how_ many kids are we talking about here?"

"Don't call me 'Kris', only my friends are allowed to do that. And I'm pregnant with at least two, possibly more."

This time there was no hesitation, "I don't want them."

"Are you sure, Todd? If you say no now I _won't_ give you a second chance. It's all or nothing."

Still he didn't hesitate, "No."

All witnesses that day agree on this one thing, Todd had that punch coming. He bore the scare of his answer until he was thirty – at which time he had enough money to get a nose job to fix the mess Kris's right hook made of it.

Chapter Thirteen

Some say that first impressions are usually wrong. Most agree that they always stay present in one's mind. All agree that there can only be one. So it was that day after school for one Melanie Howardson, one Kristina O'Neill, and one Captain Jeffery O'Connor.

_Man_, Jeff thought as he waited beside the military issue SUV for his boss's niece, _I hope I don't have to wait much longer, I've been standing here for nearly an hour. This is more boring than waiting around for Lieutenant Clyde to play with her 'rocks'. Damn, I've been spending too much time around 'The Man'._

_Hey, this chick is kinda hot…nope; she doesn't mach the description The Man gave me – too skinny, not to mention her breasts are _way_ too small to be pregnant. Crap, I can't believe I'm looking at the chest of a _high schooler. _Shit, she's coming this way…I wonder how old she thinks I am…probably just likes the uniform._

Melanie scanned the parking lot; looking for the man fitting the vague description Kris had given her a few minutes earlier. She spotted a tan skinned, muscular, young man with a military buzz of his dirty blond hair, leaning against a black SUV. _Bingo_, she thought as she began to advance slightly swaying her hips as she walked.

She reached the car and saw the man tense slightly at her close proximity, _Not another one!_

"Excuse me," she began sweetly, "Are you by any chance Captain O'Connor?"

Jeff glanced down at her then back up, "Yes."

She flung her hair over her shoulder expertly, "I'm Melanie Howardson; one of Kristie O'Neill's friends. She in the middle of a bout of morning sickness taking place in a trash can located near her locker."

Jeff's military training took over, "Take me there."

The first impression Jeff O'Connor had of Melanie Howardson was that of a flirtatious young girl who liked older men. And the first look he had of one Kristina O'Neill was of a mound of lovely light brown curls spewed over a garbage can. He could hear the retching as he saw Kris's white arms go even whiter as she clutched the bin for dear life.

Immediately he went to work. Jeff strode forward and gently gathered her masses of hair into his hands. He held it with one hand as he used the other to slowly rub her neck and shoulders.

Melanie watched in awe as this near stranger calmed her friend down in minutes when she hadn't been able to do so in half an hour. She saw Kris look up and her mouth move, but Mel couldn't make out the words.

Jeff nodded, as he said something in response, and helped Kris to her feet. Kristie looked at her friend and said in a clear voice, "Tell your brother to go to hell. And congratulations Mel, you're going to be an auntie." With that Kris and Jeff walked away – leaving Melanie in shock over her words.

"Captain?" Kristie asked, after they were both situated in the car, her book bag in the back seat. Jeff started the engine.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can I tell you something that may sound a bit strange, Captain?"

"Sure. But call me Jeff. Captain makes me feel old."

Kris grinned; she was beginning to like this man. "Alright, _Jeff_. Well, back there, at the trash can – I was throwing up balls of fire." She glanced at him, seeing interest and curiosity on his face. "And right before you showed up, I felt like I was dying – but as soon as you touched me it stopped. It was like… you flipped a switch. The strangest thing, though, was that right after the retching stopped I heard voices say;

" 'Daddy's here'," they finished together.

Chapter Fourteen

Jeff pulled off the road sharply, before parking on the shoulder. "Your _heard_ that?" he asked in awe and fear. "I thought I was going crazy!"

Kris nodded slowly; having not expected this reaction, "I heard it." She smirked shyly, "Believe it or not, I think it was the babies."

Jeff looked down at her already swollen belly, "I believe it."

"The question is," Kristina started, following Jeff's gaze: "What does this all mean?"

Jeff met her eyes, as he took one of her hands in both of his, "I think it means: Would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

Kristie smiled at him, "I'd love to." They sat in silence for a few moments before she continued, "I'm only seventeen, though. And you work for my uncle, people would talk." She looked at him questioningly, "How old are you?"

Jeff winced as he told her, "Twenty-eight."

Kris went over the numbers in her head, also taking into account the age difference between Jack and Sam – she'd use it against her uncle if push came to shove. "Only ten years difference," she said. At the look he gave her she explained, "My eighteenthbirthday is on Wednesday. The age thing's fine with me. But first you have to ask my uncle's permission."

"Only if you come with me – for protection," he added with a smile at Kris's look of horror.

"Deal."

They drove on for about five more minutes in silence before Jeff glanced at Kristie, "What are we going to do if he says no, Kristina?"

Kris glanced at him before turning her gaze back out the window, "I'll remind him of a few things."

"You'll blackmail him?"

"If it works, why not?"

"I don't know, he just seems a hard man to blackmail."

Kristie grinned evilly, "Oh, but I'm _family_. I know a lot of embarrassing stories about him that I'd be willing to _share_ with the grape-vine at the SGC."

Jeff laughed outright at that prospect and the two fell again into a comfortable silence, this time to be broken by yet another question. "Kristina?" Jeff asked, tentatively.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you pregnant?"

"What?"

"I mean, you don't seem like the girl who would be sexually active, so how did you land in this predicament?"

Kris looked at Jeff for a while, weighing whether she should tell him or not, "I went to a friend's birthday party, blacked out, and was raped by her brother."

Jeff was aghast and suddenly felt the urge to strand the bastard who did this to her on Ba'al's home world… he would have too – if Ba'al had still been alive. "How are you dealing with all of it?"

Kristie sighed, if it had been anyone else _but_ Jeff, she would respond with a few harsh words – or not have responded at all. But this was Jeff; a man she had known less than a day and yet felt an extreme attachment towards. For the first time in her life, Kristina Dawn O'Neill felt like she could trust a man who wasn't related to her.

"I honestly don't know. I'm thrilled that I'm pregnant, but I'm still kind of in shock about the whole… rape thing," she admitted finally.

Jeff took his right hand off the steering wheel as they came in sight of Cheyenne Mountain. He took Kris's left hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, "If first impressions are right, and if the babies' intuitions are to be trusted, then I can tell you one thing with certainty." He slowed the car to a crawl, and looked Kris in the eyes, "I'll _always_ be there for you, Kristina O'Neill. Always. We may have only known each other for little over thirty minutes, but it doesn't matter."

Kristie smiled through misty eyes, "Thank you."

Jeff smiled, squeezed her hand again and turned back to face the road, "Come on then. We have an appointment to get you to."

Chapter Fifteen

That Friday couldn't go by fast enough for one Jack O'Neill. He spent the entire day thinking about what he and his 2IC had done the night before, and wishing he could be kissing her. He sat through entire briefings, signed papers and reports on autopilot. His mind was on vacation, and it was a very good thing that none of the briefings that day were of very much importance and he was almost never asked for his opinion – otherwise he would have been in _major_ trouble.

It was nearing 1200 hundred hours, and Jack had nothing planned but lunch so he told Walter where he was headed, before taking off to his 2IC's lab to get her to eat.

Jack found Sam concentrating very hard on typing into her computer. He smiled as he watched her, thinking she was in the middle of figuring out something very cool and interesting for him to play with.

Little did he know, that what Samantha Carter was really typing into her computer, was a journal entry about what had happened the night before, with Jack. She felt his presence long before he made himself known, so she just typed on, seemingly oblivious to her CO standing in the doorway.

Needless to say, it freaked Jack out, when, without slowing down the pace of her typing, she said, "Anything I can help you with, General?"

"Uh, yes actually. It's lunchtime and I was wondering if you would join me in the commissary."

Sam grinned, "I'd love to, sir, just let me save this and we can be on our way."

"So, um, Carter I have it on good authority that the weather is rather warm for the middle of November," Jack commented after finishing their meal.

Sam raised an eyebrow in Teal'c like fashion, "Really? I've heard that same rumor."

"Would you care to join me in investigating its authenticity?"

Sam giggled. Jack shot her a mock glare, as he said, "No giggling, Colonel. What's so funny?"

"Sorry, sir," Sam said after she got her fit under control, "But you just used a word with five syllables!"

When the pair reached the surface, they started walking towards a well-liked clearing, to the left of the SGC. They sat together in the clearing for a few minutes, soaking in the sun's rays on the rare cloudless day in the middle of autumn.

"Sam?" Jack whispered so as not to alert the guards who were still within sight.

"Jack?" Sam replied, equally as soft.

"I have a present for you," he said, pulling out a ring box from his pocket.

Sam gasped, she had a fairly good idea of what was in that box, "You didn't have to do that, Jack."

A boyish grin graced Jack's face. "I wanted to. After all, today is the tenth anniversary of when we met. November 15th."

Sam smiled, touched that he had remembered. "I left your gift at home," she confessed sadly.

Jack shrugged it off, "You can give it to me tonight, and you can thank me tonight as well." He handed her the box and watched her face intently as she opened it up to reveal the missing tear cut sapphire ring. The sole sapphire was surrounded with tiny square cut diamonds that were perfectly set off by the white gold band.

"I thought so," she whispered as she tried it on.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked curiously.

Sam looked back up at him, love in her gaze, "Kris took me to your family jeweler's yesterday and she got me the rest of this set to wear to the black and white ball in three months."

Jack grinned, "Smart girl."

"So, what exactly is this? I mean, I know it's a ring, but does it symbolize something special?"

Jack let the walls in his eyes down as he looked at Sam, letting all his love flow through. "It is a promise to you, that as soon as circumstances change for the better, I'll be replacing it with a wedding band."

Chapter Sixteen

Since the ring could hinder Sam's ability to perform some experiments, and would cause too many questions from her assistants, she put it on the chain that held her dog tags. She was fingering the sapphire and gazing at the device SG-13 had just brought back from their mission.

There was a knock on the door, and she looked up to find Kris and that Captain from SG-10 standing in the doorway. "Kristie, I thought you were supposed to be here an hour ago?"

"Yeah, well, I kind of had a little bout with morning sickness right after school got out." She smirked, "It's a good thing we got out early for Thanksgiving break, and my appointment isn't until 1600 hours. It's already 1535, do you want to head up with us to the infirmary?"

"Us?" Sam questioned.

Kristie gave her a look that told her that they would talk later, "Yeah, us. We're going to get Jack on the way." Sam got up and her hand came down from the necklace, revealing its presence for the first time. "Oh," Kristie grinned, "I see you commandeered the missing ring, Sam."

Sam's cheeked flushed pink as she returned the girl's grin. Her attention turned to the Captain at Kris's side and Sam said, "So, Captain, how many babies do you think young Kris here is pregnant with?"

Jeff grinned, "I passed up that bet, ma'am."

Kris looked between Sam and Jeff, "There's a bet about how many babies I'll have?"

Sam shrugged, "There's a bet about everything in this base."

"How did this particular betting pool come around?"

Jeff thought for a moment, "I think it was your first visit with Dr. Fraiser. Siler was in one of the neighboring beds and heard what you were in for. He also happened to overhear _who_ you were. This news got around rather quickly to Major Ferretti, and he started the pool two weeks ago."

"Hmm, okay," Kristie said, letting it all soak in, and realizing that she really didn't care about the pool at all. If anything, she felt kind of special that the base had a betting pool going on about her babies.

"Colonel Carter! Kristie O'Neill!" The three people stopped to allow Teal'c and Jack the chance to catch up to them. When they did they took in the third member of the group.

"So, Captain?" Jack started, reverting to 'General' mode. "Don't you have some business to attend to with your team?"

Jeff remained non-phased at his boss's question, "No, sir. We're on down time for the remainder of Major Steven's recovery period. I've already finished everything that needs doing, sir. That was one reason why you asked me to pick up your niece this morning."

Jack thought for a moment before answering, "Oh, yeah. Well, why are you still here?"

Jeff looked at Kristina imploringly and she answered, "I asked him to accompany me to my appointment. We need to talk to you about something afterward anyway, so it would be easier if he just stayed with me."

"Okay," Jack said, wondering what the two of them needed to talk to him about. "Well, campers, let's get this show on the road. Hey, where's Danny?"

It was Teal'c who responded, "I believe Daniel Jackson is currently at the infirmary having his glasses repaired after running into Dr. Fraiser in the hallway."

"Okay, Kristie," Janet said as the ultrasound machine was wheeled into place by one of the doctor's many assistants, "Let's get you set up, shall we?" Kris hopped up onto the bed and lied down, while Janet got out the infamous cold gel that would allow her to see everything inside Kris's uterus.

The doctor looked at everyone else surrounding the bed and then back at Kristie, "Are you sure you want all of them here for this?"

Kris nodded, taking in everyone else in the infirmary – nearly every bed seemed to be filled with airmen who wanted to witness the ultrasound. "Well, maybe not _all_ the airmen here, but I don't really care."

"All right, then," Janet said as she put the gel on Kris's abdomen and started the process.

"Oh my God," she said at the same time as everyone else who could read an ultrasound machine. Janet turned to Kris with tears in her eyes, "Congratulations, you're going to be the mother of quadruplets. You're pregnant with four babies."

You could have heard a pin drop after this proclamation, and everyone heard the two thuds as one Jack O'Neill and one Jeff O'Connor both fainted.

Chapter Seventeen

Within minutes both men were on beds in the infirmary, and conscious. Jack came around first, and had more time to process what he had just been told. By the time Jeff had regained consciousness, Kris was sitting between the two men's beds, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

"Can you tell me why the hell you fainted, Captain?" Jack roared. "I know why _I _was rendered unconscious for a few minutes, but why were _you_?"

Jeff looked to Kris for some help and she spoke up quickly, "I think this conversation is better had in your office – away from prying eyes and ears." She shot a quick glare around the infirmary, and everyone who had before been so captivated by their conversation became obsessed with everything else but the three of them. Somewhere during their time in the unconscious realm, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c had all made their escapes.

The trip to Jack's office was silent and uncomfortable for all three people. The looks that passing airmen sent Jeff's way portrayed their pity and concern for their comrade's welfare.

Upon arriving at Jack's office, Jeff offered the seat to Kris who sent a smile of gratitude to him as Jack sat in his chair. The Captain stood tall behind Kristina, ready to face the anger of 'The Man'.

"Now, will you tell me what the hell this is all about?" Jack asked angrily.

Jeff put his hand on Kris's shoulder and she squeezed it reassuringly, "Well, sir," Jeff started nervously, "I uh, would like uh, your permission to uh, go out on a date with Kristina, sir."

Jack knew he would consent five seconds after Jeff finished speaking, but he didn't let this show to either of the two other occupants of the room. To them, his face was a stone mask that showed no emotion. After about two minutes of mind numbing silence, Jack spoke:

"You want to do _what_?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I want your permission to date your niece, sir," Jeff answered, absolutely terrified and trying not to let it show.

"Have you two even thought about this?" Jack asked, his voice raising an octave. "I mean, Kris is ten years younger than you, Captain! And don't even get me started on what your reputation would be like after this. Do you know how many people would accuse you of sleeping your way up the ranks if you got promoted? How about the fact that she's _pregnant_, Captain? They're not your children, O'Connor. Have you thought about any of this?"

It was Kris who answered. "Yes, we have, _Jack_," she spat back. "And it's none of your business about my children! It's Jeff's and mine – _not_ yours."

"As for being accused of using Kris to get myself promoted, sir." Jeff continued, "There's a very simple way to fix that problem – don't promote me. We discussed the issue with our age difference, and we don't care."

"Besides, you're twelve years older than _your_ girlfriend, Jack," Kris added quietly.

Jack groaned and let his head drop onto his desk. "I knew that was going to come back to bite me in the ass," he whispered, causing Kris to smirk at her resourcefulness. "Fine, you have my permission," Jack finally consented. He was about to say something further when the red phone interrupted him.

He picked up the ringing appliance and shooed the two out of his office, "O'Neill…Hello Mr. President…No, sir, I haven't thought about it…You want to do what!…Promote her? To _what_?…_Brigadier_ _General_, sir?…She'd be doing _what_?…Sorry sir, I didn't realize I was repeating everything you were saying…Alright, sir…Yes, I understand, sir…Well, then I guess I'll see you next week, sir…Goodbye, sir."

Jack sighed as he hung up the phone before picking up the gray telephone and speaking into the receiver, "Carter? Can you report to my office in the next ten minutes, please? Thanks."

Five minutes later, Sam Carter knocked on the door of her boss's office, impatient to find out why she had been summoned.

"Come," a disembodied voice said from the other side of the door. Sam opened the door and hesitantly entered, closing the door behind her.

"Hi, Carter, have a seat." Sam sat down nervously as Jack continued to speak from his seat, "I just got off the phone with the president. Apparently he thinks that when we go public that the Science and Archeology departments should be under separate command than the off world teams." He sighed before continuing, "He wants one Brig. General Carter to be the head of that department."

Sam could barely breath, one thought kept running through her mind – separate command. "Does this mean that we can…" she trailed off as Jack nodded fervently.

"Yeah. The president wants to perform the promotion ceremony with you himself, so he's going to come by next week for the big shindig."

Sam grinned like a mad woman, "I don't know if I can wait that long," she said as she leapt into Jack's lap, kissing him for all she was worth.

Chapter Eighteen

Kris looked again at the pile of clothes on her floor. She just couldn't find anything to wear on her date with Jeff. The first date had gone wonderfully, he had taken her out on a picnic at a promontory that looked over Colorado Springs. The night had been lovely, because it was a warm November; it was perfect weather for the meal.

Now it was the day before Thanksgiving – her birthday, and Jeff had told her that he wanted to take her out somewhere. Jeff insisted that it was a surprise and would only tell her that she should wear comfortable clothing that was easy to move around in and socks.

Kris began pacing her room again, she glanced at the clock – it was 1500 hours, she only had an hour and a half before he showed up. Deciding on a course of action, Kristie picked up the telephone and quickly dialed Sam's number.

"Carter."

"Hi, Sam, it's Kris."

"Hey Kris, what's up?"

"I don't know what to wear," the girl complained, knowing Sam wouldn't need an explanation.

"I'll be there in twenty," Sam said before she hung up the phone. Now that she was head of the entire science department, she had the wonderful ability to delegate most of the projects to those under her, freeing up a lot of her time. She had actually just finished up the last of her paperwork for the week when Kris had called.

Twenty minutes later, Sam Carter pulled into the O'Neill's driveway ready to face the hormones of the pregnant teenager. She knocked on the door and it was quickly answered by a disgruntled Kris dressed in a robe, and with wet hair newly cut to a pixie cut.

"Sam! Thank God, you're here," Kristina said as she allowed the Colonel access to the house and followed her into her bedroom.

"He told me to wear something comfortable and to make sure to wear socks." Kris growled in frustration, "Why do men have to be so vague!" she said, more as statement than a question.

Sam sighed, "I don't know, maybe he just likes surprising you? After all, it is your birthday."

Kris grinned, "I've only known the guy for six days, and he already wants me to spend my birthday with him."

"You're very lucky with that. I've known your uncle for nearly ten years, and each and every year he manages to forget _my_ birthday."

Kris hit her head, like she just remembered something. "Oh, I forgot! Yesterday was your second anniversary for being a Colonel. I got you something."

Sam smiled, as the girl rummaged through her clothes for the missing present, "You didn't have to do that, Kris."

"Oh, but I _wanted_ to. Especially since you won't make it through your third year of being a Colonel." She popped up with a small box in hand, "Ah, here it is!"

Samantha took the box from the younger girl and opened it to reveal a set of hair combs that matched her dress and jewelry for the presidential ball. "Oh, Kris they're beautiful," she said as she gave the girl a hug.

"I'm glad you like them. I didn't remember about the hair combs until after we had gotten home, so I went back two days ago and got them for you."

Sam smiled, tears coming to her eyes, "Thank you. Now, let's find something for you to wear." The older woman eyed the pile of clothing with a critical eye, before picking up a forest green maternity tank top, that fit Kris perfectly, and a pair of black pants that hugged the girl's curves but still gave her freedom of movement.

As Sam helped Kris into her tennis shoes, she resumed their conversation. "So, where do you think he's taking you?"

The younger woman shrugged, "I have no clue. He just told me to wear something comfortable and make sure I had socks on. Maybe he's taking me to play laser tag… nah, he probably thinks it's too dangerous for a pregnant woman to play. So I haven't got a clue."

Sam grinned, she was beginning to love this girl like a daughter – Kris was so much like Jack that Sam couldn't help but love her in a motherly way.

Kristie glanced at the clock – it was 1600 and she was hungry. "Come on, Sam. I know there's some food in this house somewhere. And I have serious doubts that you ate lunch before coming over."

"You're just like your uncle. Always trying to force me to eat," Sam muttered as the two walked into the kitchen and Kris began to forage through her uncle's refrigerator and cabinets.

"Yep, well we don't want you getting sick on us, now do we? Ooo! Lunchmeat and bread! We have the makings for sandwiches in here!"

"So, is the morning sickness easing up any?" Sam asked as the two ate their lunch.

Kris shook her head, "No, not really. But the babies don't really mind turkey, or bread, so that's why this is a dry turkey sandwich. My stomach is fine if I eat plain foods that don't have much flavor."

Jeff made his way down the streets towards his boss's house, swerving to avoid non-existent traffic. He pulled into the driveway to find only Kris's car there. Jeff glanced at his watch and saw that he was five minutes early and wondered if she would be ready.

He decided to brave the fact that she might not be ready to go, and got out of his car to knock on the door. Jeff was shocked to find Kris dressed in an outfit that accentuated her curves to the fullest, and made her look like a movie star.

"You ready to go?" he asked nervously.

"Yep, just let me grab my jacket," she said, eyeing the way he was dressed. Her boyfriend was dressed in loose hugging blue jeans and a button up black t-shirt that was done up all the way. "You look hot, Jeff," she commented as they walked to the car.

The young man flushed with embarrassment, "So do you."

Jeff blindfolded Kris half way through the trip so she _really_ wouldn't know where they were going. When he finally pulled into a parking lot and turned to take the blindfold off, she gasped in surprise.

"Bowling?" she said with humor in her voice. "You're taking me bowling?"

Jeff grinned, "Yeah, I asked the General and he said that you loved to bowl, so I thought that it was fitting."

"How so?"

"I was on the bowling team all through high school."

Kris rewarded his thoughtfulness with a long, passionate kiss – their first. "Thank you so much."

It took a few moments for Jeff's mouth to catch up to his mind, so that he was able to respond. "If I get thanked like that, then I should do this kind of thing more often."

Kris grinned, "Yeah, you should."

Chapter Nineteen

The promotion ceremony was held, per usual, underneath the Stargate. The amazing thing about it was not only that the president himself performed it, but also that civilians not a part of the Stargate Program (A.K.A. Kristie, Julia Donovan, and a camera crew) were allowed to watch.

At the close of the ceremony, President Williams said into the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen of the SGC and the world, I'm proud to present for the first time the co-commanders of the SGC, Brig. General's Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter. May our enemies tremble in fear."

The room erupted in applause, as the new commanders of the SGC walked down the ramp of the Stargate together.

The two just made it to the end of the ramp when the Stargate began to activate. "Unscheduled off-world activation!" came Walter's voice from the control room where he watched the ceremony.

The president quickly moved off the ramp with the rest of SG-1. Jack and Sam raced up to the control room to find out if an IDC was coming through as the wormhole engaged, "It's the Tok'ra, ma'am, sir," Walter told them, as the iris locked closed.

"Open the iris," Jack called.

Out from the open wormhole sauntered one Jacob Carter. He looked around at everyone in their dress blues and looked up to the control room, "What? Did I miss it?"

Jack activated the microphone in the control room, "We just finished with the ceremony, actually. Hang on a second and we'll be right down."

A few seconds later, Sam was down in the embarkation room in her father's arms. Most of the base personnel started to get back to their jobs, as President Williams waited patiently with his two Secret Service agents, and a select few waiting for Sam and her father's attention.

Jacob saw the small crowd and didn't recognize two of them very well, so he disentangled himself from his daughter to inquire about whom the newcomers were. "Hey Jack, how's things?"

"Fine, Dad. You?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Sel's making sure of that." He smiled at he younger man, "Care to introduce us?" he said, indicating the young woman before him, trying to hide between Teal'c and Daniel.

Jack grin got bigger, "This is Kristina O'Neill, my niece. Kris, this is Jacob and Selmak, Brig. General Carter's father and his symbiote."

Kris extended her hand for the Tok'ra to shake, as she smiled warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I've heard a lot about you."

"All good things I hope?" Jacob questioned lightly.

"Assuredly."

"You can call me Jacob – I really don't like being called 'sir' unless you're in the military. And you're Jack's niece, huh? I've heard nothing about you." The Tok'ra said with a sincere smile.

"Well I'd be very happy to fill you in on humorous stories about my uncle another time. I believe you came to scare him out of five years of his life?" Kris said this smiling innocently at her uncle, who glared in response.

Jacob turned his attention to Jack, "Oh yes, I remember now. So, Jack," the older man said, taking the younger man's arm, "Since I'm rather hungry at the moment, why don't we head out to get something to eat? I believe you promised me a grill the last time I was here."

Jack's smile now showed relief, "Yeah, why don't we head off base around 1700 hours, that way you'll have time to talk to the president, and I'll have time to finish up the rest of my paperwork for the weekend."

Chapter Twenty

Kristina absently rubbed her swollen stomach, as she pondered over the last two weeks. Thanksgiving had been a wonderful family affair, with Jeff and most of her uncle's friends in attendance. There had been turkey, stuffing and everything else for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but there was also a 'plain' version of everything in case Kris started to get nauseous again.

_Flashback to the day after Thanksgiving:_

Kris walked into the kitchen dressed in loose sweat pants and an oversized tee shirt, to find her uncle sipping his coffee while he watched the news.

"Jack?" she asked softly as she sat next to him on the sofa.

"Yes, Kris?" he replied.

"I think we need to do a paternity test for the babies."

"Why? Did you find out who the father was?" Jack turned the television off and faced his niece.

Kris looked down, "Yeah, about that. I _think_ I know who it is, but we need the test to be positive. There are some things about last Friday that I didn't tell you."

Her quiet demeanor was beginning to scare Jack, "What?"

"I had a confrontation with Todd Howardson. He said that I only slept with him that night at the party, and if that's true then he's the father. Todd said that if the babies are his, he doesn't want a thing to do with them."

"Then why did he tell you?"

Kristina met her uncle's gaze, "Because that's the kind of person he is. Todd was apparently concerned that I didn't tell him right after I found out I was pregnant, and he wanted to know why. It's just the way he is."

"What did you do when he said that he didn't want a thing to do with them?"

The girl smirked, "I broke his nose."

Jack chuckled, "That's my girl." The two were silent for a few moments before the aging man continued, "If he's the only guy you've ever slept with, why do you need a paternity test?"

Kris sighed, "Because that day after school when I met Jeff, we both heard the babies say, 'Daddy's here'."

Jack nodded; this was so confusing, "I'll get Janet to do it when we go in on Sunday for your appointment."

Fast forward to Saturday:

Jack looked at the Captain beside him as they walked up the pathway of the Howardson residence. "Are you sure you're up for this, O'Connor?" he asked concerned.

Jeff found that he couldn't form words so he nodded silently, this was going to be hard but he'd get through it. He was a soldier, and soldiers did _not_ allow their personal feelings to get in the way of their duty, the man standing beside him was proof of that.

Both men were suffocating in their Class A's, but wearing them was worth the effort of instilling fear in the man they were about to try to get.

General O'Neill knocked on the door and the two men waited for it to be answered, both with their hats on their heads. A few seconds later, Melanie opened the door.

"Hello, I'm General O'Neill," Jack formally introduced himself, "And this is Captain O'Connor. Is Todd Howardson at home?"

Mel nodded, "Yeah, he's in the back. Come on in." She moved so she was no longer blocking the doorway, and led the two Airmen into the living room. "Just wait here for a minute and I'll go get him and our parents," she said before making a hasty retreat.

The flyboys remained standing in silence for a few minutes before an older couple and their son came into the room – Melanie had obviously chosen _not_ to join in this particular discussion.

Mr. Howardson stepped forward, "Hello gentlemen, I'm Marcus Howardson, this is my wife, Agatha and our son, Todd. Please, take a seat. How may we help you two today?"

The five people sat down and Jack began talking, "My name is General Jack O'Neill, this is Captain Jeffrey O'Connor. We would like Todd to come with us for paternity testing."

Marcus looked at his son and back at the men before him, "Are you arresting him?"

"No, Mr. Howardson, your son isn't being arrested," _Yet_. "At the moment I am just trying to find out who the father of my niece's children is."

Todd took this moment to try and get the answer to a question he had asked a week ago. "Do you know how many children she's carrying?"

Jeff looked at him with a cold glare that the other man would hope _never_ to see again, "Quadruplets. She's carrying quadruplets."

Todd could barely breath; what the hell had he done? "I'll go with you."

_End flashback._

Chapter Twenty-one

Waiting was by far not one of Kris's strong points. She was like her uncle that way; she got antsy after having to wait fifteen minutes for test results. It didn't help matters any that the test results they were waiting for would tell them who the father of her babies was.

Jeff and Kristie had been the final two to arrive at Jack's house. Daniel and Teal'c watched the grill with Jeff, as Sam and Kris talked in the kitchen.

Kristina had given Janet (who had another two hours before her shift was over at the SGC and would be arriving later) strict instructions to not even think about leaving the infirmary until the test results came back and she could bring them with her. They had sent Todd home after he gave his sample, but not before he was 'accidentally' left alone in a room with Jack, Teal'c, AND Daniel (Jeff was in his office, catching up on some paper work).

The younger woman reached for a tea mug and as she was bringing her arm back to her side, the cup slid from her hand to shatter on the floor. Sam had been chatting happily about her latest project, but stopped as soon as she saw Kris freeze. The teen's knees buckled and she fell into Sam's waiting arms.

"Kris? Kris!" Sam called, trying to get the girl to look at her, as she slowly lowered her to the floor. "What's wrong?" she asked, as she saw Kristie's eyes lock with hers and recognition dawn on her young face.

"I was raped," she said in a small voice. "I was raped," she repeated, her voice raising in volume. She collapsed in a heap within Sam's arms, crying as she repeated the phrase over and over.

All the men came running in, at the growing sound of Kristina's hysterical cries. Jeff and Jack simultaneously saw the state Kristie was in and rushed to her side, Jack knelt down beside Sam, adding his voice to hers in telling Kristie that it was alright now and she was safe. Jeff made the mistake of putting his hand on her back like he had done the first day they met.

"_Don't_ _touch_ _me_!" Kris told him in a dangerously low voice.

Jeff jerked his hand back as if burned, then turned to Sam with confusion. Sam just shook her head, telling him that he should just leave it alone. "Come on, Kristie, lets get up off the floor and get you to your room," Sam said soothingly, to the young woman. "It's going to be all right."

Kris nodded, still crying, as Sam gently helped her up and walked with her into her room. Once there, Sam offered to stay with her, but Kristie refused, saying she wanted to be alone at the moment.

When Sam rejoined the men of SG1, Jacob and Jeff, she found them all in the living room, waiting anxiously.

Jack jumped to his feet when Sam entered, "Is she okay?"

Sam spoke with anger in her voice, "She's just realized that she was _raped_. Would _you_ be 'okay'?"

Jack was taken aback at her tone and looked at Jacob with confusion. Jacob's eyes met his daughter's as he firmly said in full 'father' mode, "Now Samantha, is that _any_ way to talk to your friend? How the _hell_ is he suppose to know what happened to you when you were in high school?"

Sam sighed, "You're right, Dad. I'm sorry, Jack, that was out of line."

Jack was saved having to respond by someone knocking fervently at his front door. He stood and answered it to be confronted by a very haggard looking Janet Fraiser still in her BDU's and holding a medical folder as if it was the secret of life.

"Janet, glad to see you could make it," Daniel said, as she walked briskly into the living room.

Janet completely ignored his comment, "Where's Kristie?"

"In her room, why?" Jack asked, concerned.

"I have the test results."

Chapter Twenty-two

Jack opened the door to his house, as Sam and Jacob chatted away behind him. "Come on in, Jake," the younger man said. "I'm sure I have some steaks in the freezer, somewhere."

Sam giggled at him, "I made sure some were in there two days ago. Kris can't stand beef so they better still be in there, mister."

"Yeah, sure, you betcha!" Jack called as he found the steaks and put them on the counter.

"Hey, Sam? We don't have any ketchup or salad stuff, could you run to the store and get some?" He said this handing her his wallet. "Oh and get some dark chocolate chips for Kris, they're the only kind of chocolate she can still stand, and you know how she can get without chocolate."

"Yeah, sure, you betcha," Sam said, mimicking his earlier statement.

After Jacob heard the car start and drive away, he turned

Jack looked at him in surprise, "Just going straight to the point, aren't we, Dad?"

Jacob sighed, "Don't call me Dad right now, Jack. And _stop_ trying to avoid the question!"

Jack winced and took something out of his pocket, it was a set of two white gold wedding bands.

"Aww, Jack, I'm sorry, but I don't think of you that way," Jacob said, eyeing the rings.

"Haha, very funny, Jacob. You know these are for Sam and me. I have every intention of marrying your daughter. But I wanted to get your blessing before I asked her."

Jacob looked Jack in the eye, "You have it. Just make her happy, Jack. That's all I ask - make her happy."

Jack nodded, accepting that order proudly, "I have every intention of doing that, Jake. She makes me feel like the luckiest man in the universe. God only knows why she chose to be with an old, beat-up soldier like me, but she did. I have every intention of making her happy because of that decision every day of her life."

Jacob nodded in consent, before breaking out in a grin, "I've really got to give Hammond a call. The guy owes me two hundred dollars now."

"What, the two of you bet when I'd ask Sam to marry me?" Jack said, with mock indigence – he had known about the betting pools regarding Sam and him for a long time.

"Actually we bet on whether you would ask me for my blessing before asking her."

Jack winced, "Then I guess it might be you who owes him the money. I kinda made my intentions for her clear about five days ago. No one besides Kristie should know, but…"

Jacob smiled, "But you didn't _ask_ her five days ago, right?"

"_Right_."

"Then I still win."

The door being opened, by Daniel who was talking to Teal'c interrupted their conversation, "Well, how was I supposed to know that she likes the regular vanilla ice cream? It's not like I got Rocky Road? I got French Vanilla Bean! What the hell is the difference?"

"French Vanilla Bean has a stronger flavor than regular Vanilla and she still has a problem with too much flavor in her foods," Jack responded for the Jaffa.

Daniel looked at him frustrated, "Do you want me to go back and get the _right_ kind?"

"No, I'll just call Sam and tell her to grab some. She knows what Kris will eat." Jack replied, grabbing his cell phone and dialing the number. He walked into the kitchen to put the bags away as he spoke to Sam.

Daniel sighed exasperated and somewhat relieved that he didn't have to leave again to go to the store. "So, where's Kristie and Jeff?"

Jack shrugged, "I think Jeff had to stop by his house to change his clothes."

"Why did he not just change his attire at the base?" Teal'c asked.

Jack shrugged, "I don't know. All I really know is that I trust my niece with my life, and I know that she wouldn't do anything 'questionable'."

Jacob looked at Jack quizzically, "Well, Jack, she _is_ pregnant."

Everyone was in shock at Jacob's comment and looked at Jack to gage his reaction, "She was date-raped, Jacob."

Selmak took control of the body right as Kris, Jeff and Sam all walked in the door with grocery bags. "O'Neill, my host and I would like to confer with you privately about some matters pertaining to the Tauri's need for us to speak when you divulge the information pertaining to the Stargate to your nations' public."

Jack nodded, "Sure Selmak. We can talk in my office. Hey, Sam, Kris? Could you two start the salad in the kitchen while the others get the barbeque going?"

Kristie nodded, "Yeah, you betcha, Jack. You all go off and do manly things… Light fire, burn meat. Who cares? I'm not eating it!"

Chapter Twenty-three

Everyone stared at Janet as if she had just announced she was pregnant with Anubis's child.

"Where's Kristie?" Janet repeated, impatiently. She really wanted to get these results to the young woman.

Jeff pointed to her room and Janet was off to get her before you could say, "Apophis' resurrected".

Janet knocked on the door twice before hearing the sounds of Kristie saying, "Who is it?"

"Kristie, it's me, Janet. Can I come in?"

She heard the young woman get up off her bed and shuffle towards the door, before hearing the lock click out of place and saw it open to reveal a red, puffy eyed Kris in sweat clothes.

"What, Janet?" Kris sniffled, moving so the older woman could enter.

Janet sighed; she knew this wouldn't be easy for Kristie to handle. "I have the test results back from the paternity test."

Kris nodded and sat down again on her bed, "What's it say?"

"The biological father of you children is Todd Howardson."

Without speaking Kristina got up and walked past Janet to the door and into the living room. She looked at everyone silently, before resting her gaze on Jeff. "You're not the father, Todd is." Turning her attention to Jacob she added, "I'm sorry you had to witness my behavior earlier, Jacob, I don't have an excuse for my actions, and I apologize for acting like that in your presence."

Jacob shook his head, "There's nothing to apologize for, Kristie. You're actions were completely justified given the circumstances."

Kris nodded, "I still feel bad about it, Jacob."

Jacob nodded, "Now, I think the barbeque is ready for the steaks to be put on, so someone should probably do that sometime soon."

Sam nodded, "Why don't you guys do that? There's something I need to share with Kris and Janet."

Jacob nodded, already knowing what his daughter would be sharing with the other two women, and ushered the other men out into the backyard.

Sam sighed as she heard the back door close after the men. She turned to face the two waiting women and smiled nervously, "I guess we better sit down for this one."

When the three were sitting down, Sam began her tale, "When I was a junior in high school, Dad was stationed in the southern part of Florida. It was the end of May. May 27th to be exact, when it happened…"

_Flashback_:

Samantha Carter walked steadily into her automotives teacher's classroom. For some reason unknown to her, she had been called during her final class of the day to stay after the school day was over.

The young Sam Carter walked into the classroom to find her teacher, Mr. Stevens, sitting at his desk. Um, you wanted to see me, Mr. Stevens?" Sam said as the middle-aged man came into view.

Mr. Stevens smiled, "Ah, yes, Samantha. I wanted to discuss your grades." He looked her over once, taking in her curve hugging spring dress greedily. "You've been here since the beginning of this semester, and I've noticed a drastic drop in your grade during the past month."

At this point he rose from his desk and began advancing forward. "You have to get a perfect score on the final to be able to pass this class with anything higher than a C." He started stroking her cheek and suggestively ran his hand up and down her neck.

She shot him a famous Carter glare, side-stepping his attempts to move his hand any lower down on her anatomy. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Mr. Stevens smiled with a disgusting hunger in his eyes as he went and locked his classroom door. "Only that I'm in control over whether you remain in the top ten percent of this school." He started advancing again, "Give me what I want, and I'll give you what you want."

"No."

"Yes, you will, Samantha." And with that he jumped on her, pulling her underwear down in one fluid motion as he forced himself on her – all the while with Sam screaming out 'no'.

_End Flashback._

Silence followed the finishing of Sam's tale and the three women joined in a group hug, tears in all their eyes. Sam was the first to pull back, "I'm not done." She took a shaky breath and continued, "Dad took me to the hospital the next day, when I told him what happened. He took the next two weeks off and let me take them off, also so that he could be there for me and I wouldn't have to deal with anything at school. I found out the next week that I was pregnant." At this point she looked Kristina right in the eyes, as Janet gasped in shock. "I had a miscarriage when I was ten weeks along."

When she was greeted with silence, the Brigadier General continued, "I didn't tell you this for your sympathy, but just so that you would know – if there's anyone who can understand even _remotely_ what you're going through it's me. You're not alone in this and you never will be. I'm here for you, Jack is here for you, Janet is here for you, _and **Jeff**_is here for you. Even Teal'c and Daniel are here for you."

Janet interjected, "Although you could be a little nicer to Jeff about it. He wasn't the one who raped you."

Kris looked her in the eye; "I don't think I'll be able to be touched by _any_ man without flinching for a while."

"And I can live with that," Jeff said from the doorway. "Just don't shut me out, okay? I'm here for you, Kristie – always."

Kristie nodded, tears coming to her eyes again, "Thank you, I just don't know what I did to deserve a guy like you."

Jeff grinned, lopsidedly. "The same thing I did to deserve a girl as great as you - nothing."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Twenty-four

They were eating dinner, well everyone but Kristie that is. She was stuck in the bathroom suffering from the effects of getting a really big whiff of the steaks when they were brought in the house for consumption.

When she came back out, she heard Jacob say, "So, do you want to know something interesting about one _very_ important Tok'ra?"

"Yeah, as long as you don't diss Garshaw," Kris said as she sat down in between Teal'c (the only man she would let get that close to her) and Sam.

Jacob chuckled, "Selmak never would let me. No, this little tidbit is about _Anise_."

That statement caused Daniel and Jack to both shoot looks at Jacob, saying simultaneously, "Is it embarrassing?"

"Very."

"What is it?" Jack asked, nearly jumping out of his seat.

Jacob put down his fork and looked them all in the eye; "I recently had to use the healing device on Anise, after an unfortunate encounter with a collapsing tunnel. Did you know that _she_ is really a _he_?"

This declaration caused everyone but Teal'c and Kristie to choke on the food they had been eating. While they were all trying to dislodge what had jammed in their throats, Kristie calmly rose from her seat and turned to Teal'c.

"I'm going to get some pie, would you like something, Teal'c?"

Teal'c bowed his head slightly, "Indeed, I would, Kristina. Will you please acquire one of the refrigerated diet beverages?"

Kris smiled at Teal'c formalness and followed suit, bowing her head in return. "Indeed I shall."

After everyone who wasn't a Carter or O'Neill had left, the remaining four got down to business in the living room.

"So, I'm going to say fifty, on Daniel asking Janet out before the week is up," Sam said confidently.

Kristie shook her head, "Nope, I'll bet you double or nothing that I can get him to ask her out before the end of tomorrow."

Sam raised her eyebrow in true Teal'c-like fashion; "You have _that_ much confidence in your skills?"

Kris smirked, "It took me two weeks with you and Jack – even procuring the president's permission. There's been a bet going on about the two of you since the arm wrestling challenge."

Jacob looked at Kris with admiration, "So _you're_ the reason I'm going to win? You did in two weeks what no one else could! You deserve a metal!"

Kristie grinned, "Thor already gave me one."

Jack turned to Kris, "Kris, go get me the box from my bottom drawer."

Kris gave him a glare, "Cut the whole, 'me man, you woman, you do as I say' crap. You've been at it ever since Sam's promotion ceremony and frankly it's getting on my nerves."

Jack huffed, "Would you _please_ get me the box requested?"

"Sure," she tried to get up with no luck. "Well I would if I could MOVE."

"It's fine, I'll get it," Jack said, waving at her to stop trying to move. He returned a few moments later carrying a box about the size of a necklace box. He handed it to Sam, "Here, it's _your_ metal for sticking with a sarcastic, cynical old fart as your CO for the past ten years."

Sam opened it to find a thin gold chain that supported a circular locket with the Earth point of origin etched onto it. "It's beautiful."

"Glad you like it, I bought it five years ago, right before Danny died as a matter of fact."

Sam winced, "Yeah, it didn't really help my self-esteem when he went and ascended on my birthday."

Jacob looked at his daughter, "Didn't he apologize for doing that when you saw him again on Abydos?"

"Yeah, but I can still use it as a trump to get the last pastry in the debriefing room."

Kris's face fell. Jacob was the first to notice her change in demeanor. "What's wrong, Kristie?"

"I just remembered that I have to tell Todd that he's the father, Melanie that she's going to be an aunt, _and_ the Howardsons' that they are going to be grandparents."

Sam squeezed the younger woman's hand, "You might want to call them soon, Kris. The longer you wait the harder it will get."

Kristie nodded, "I know. I'd better do it now before I chicken out."

The living room was silent as they waited for Kristina to finish her conversation with Todd. Little did they expect to be privy to part of it when Kris started yelling.

"Screw you, Todd!…Well you weren't that good either, jackass. If I can't even fucking remember what happened, that says something about how good you are, asshole!…Go to hell!"

Sam turned to Jack knowingly, "Yeah, it says something alright!"

Jacob couldn't help himself; he just started laughing his ass off.

Chapter Twenty-five

Todd slammed down his shot glass with rage. He was sitting at the bar at a friend's party, Melanie off dancing or something.

Who did Kristina O'Neill think she was? Man! When he had first told her that he wanted nothing to do with them, he was only half-sure that they were even his! Now that he was positive he was the father – he wanted to be a damn good one. And now she goes and pulls a stunt like that! Damn it! She really _was_ serious when she said she wouldn't give him a second chance.

He downed another shot of rum to drown his despair – it wasn't working very well.

Mel saw the state her brother was in and drunkenly walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. When he glared up at her, she said over the music, "I think we should go home now I'm bored."

Todd nodded as he stood up, swaying. His sister eyed him carefully, "Are you sure you're okay to drive?"

"_Yes_. I don't even have a buzz."

The little Honda Civic that Melanie had received as a birthday present from Kris (A/N: Remember that Kris has _loads_ of cash and she _really_ likes Mel.) had to go over some pretty rough roads to get from the party back to their house. Todd spent the majority of the drive ranting about Kris and the unfairness of life; unfortunately his rant caused him to start speeding – a very dangerous combination with the rain that had started to fall.

"Look out Todd!" Melanie screamed as she saw that they were headed right into the path of a semi-truck. The young man swerved to get out of the way – hitting a tree in the process.

The semi stopped and the driver got out to see the damage. The little Honda was wrapped around a tree – driver's side closest to the trunk.

The truck driver got out his cell phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1.

Less than five minutes later, an ambulance and fire truck pulled up.

Todd Howardson and Melanie Howardson were both taken directly to the nearest hospital – where they were both immediately taken into surgery.

The Howardsons' were called as soon as the paramedics found Todd's wallet. Mrs. Howardson called Kristie to inform her of what was happening, on the couple's way to the hospital.

Kris's cell phone rang in the middle of a viewing of _The Wizard of Oz,_ by Selmak, Jack, Sam and Kristie.

"Hello?" she said into the receiver after Jack had paused the movie. Kristina's face went ashen as she listened to what the other person had to say. "Where are they?…Okay, I'll meet you there." She hung up the phone quickly and looked to Sam for help getting up.

"Who was that?" Jack asked, worried.

"Mrs. Howardson. Todd and Melanie were in a car accident. They're at St. Mercy's General right now. I really need to be there for them."

Selmak nodded as Jacob took control, "We'll come along, as well. It's close enough to the revelation of the Stargate, that if there's something we can do with the Tok'ra healing device, we will."

Kris nodded gratefully as tears welled in her eyes.

At the hospital, Mrs. Agatha Howardson enveloped Kristie in a hug and started bawling into her shoulder. Kristie did her best to calm the petrified mother, and when she had quieted the younger woman looked her in the eye asking, "What happened?"

"We don't really know, but Todd and Melanie had both been drinking at a party, Todd drove home and the car got wrapped around a tree. Their both still in surgery." Quietly, Marcus had come up and listened to the exchange between his wife and 'second daughter'. The three comforted each other in a group hug while they waited.

"Did, uh, did Todd tell you the results of the DNA test?" Kris asked after a few minutes of silence.

Marcus shook his head, "No, he ended his conversation with you then left for the party with Mel fifteen minutes later."

Kris closed her eyes, willing the tears to stop, "They're Todd's."

Both parents found this news bittersweet. On the one hand they were about to be grandparents. On the other, their son had raped this young girl they had thought of as a daughter, ever since their daughter, Melanie, had brought her home from school five years before.

Jacob cleared his throat loudly, causing all three to look up and see the doctor in bloody scrubs coming towards them. He was shaking his head. "I'm so sorry, the internal bleeding within Todd was too severe, and we've lost him." The doctor was relieved when a gray haired man in his fifties sent him away.

Less than five minutes later a second surgeon came towards the group. "Are you the Howardsons?" the middle-aged woman asked softly.

Marcus nodded, "Yes, is this about Melanie?"

The surgeon nodded, "Yes, she was a lot less injured than Todd in the accident, but when we opened her up to close a hole in her stomach lining, we noticed an odd growth on the wall of her uterus. She needs a radical hysterectomy performed now. The cancer in her uterus is spreading to her ovaries, we need to take them out."

Marcus nodded, "Do it."

The woman hesitated before leaving, "You know, in a sense, this car accident saved your daughter's life. She's so young, I don't think they would have caught the cancer in time otherwise."

Chapter Twenty-six

When the doctor had left, Sam turned to Agatha. "Mrs. Howardson? Why don't you come with me to go get some coffee? I don't think you'll be getting much sleep tonight."

The poor woman nodded, "I don't believe I caught your name, miss."

Sam smiled warmly, "My name is Samantha Carter. This is my father, Jacob. I'm a friend of Kristina's uncle, Jack."

Agatha nodded, "So you're the Samantha that Kristina keeps telling us about. It's nice to finally meet you." Sam could see that the grieving mother didn't want to talk about the recent news of her son's death, so she complied and the two women walked away discussing Kristina and Sam's life.

Marcus pulled Kris aside from the two generals and gave her a bear hug. "I'm so glad you're here, Kristie," he told her.

"I'm always here for you, Marcus, always." After ten minutes of standing like that, Kris pulled away. "I know this is a difficult time for you, but how are you going to pay for the operations? Didn't you just loose your insurance?"

Marcus sighed, "I don't know. We might have to take out a loan on the house. As long as she's alive I don't care."

Kris nodded, "I'm not going to let you go into debt over keeping your daughter alive."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I have the money to pay for it, so I'll pay for it."

With that she walked back to Jack and asked to use his cell phone. He handed her the small device and she quickly dialed her accountant's number. She picked up almost immediately, "Hello?"

"Hi, Marta? It's Kristina O'Neill. I need you to handle a personal transaction for me like right now."

"What do you need, Kristie?"

"I need you to transfer three million dollars from my checking account into the checking account of Marcus and Agatha Howardson." Jack and Jacob went bug eyed at the amount Kristina specified.

"Why so much?"

"Because I have it, they need it and I can."

"Look, Kris, I know that you want to help them, but your not exactly known for being the most generous of people," Marta responded.

This made Kris snap, "You of all people know _just_ how much capital and assets my grandfather left me when he died. I _have_ the resources to do this and I _will_ do this. Now, do I need to find another accountant?"

"No, ma'am. I'll do that right away. Good bye."

Jacob eyed the girl suspiciously, she was so much like her uncle it was kind of scary. "How much money did your grandfather leave you, Kristina?"

She sighed, "Five billion in capital and another one point five billion in investments. He left twice as much to Jack."

Jacob turned on Jack, "You're a _billionaire_ and you never told me? Does Sam know?"

"Does Sam know what?" said woman asked as she walked up.

Jacob huffed and looked at his daughter, "Does Sam know that Jack is loaded?"

Sam smiled, "Yeah, he told me about his assets about seven years ago."

"AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME?"

"Why would I?"

"I'm your father! You should tell me everything."

"It's in my file, Jacob. If you really wanted to know that badly, you could have just read my file."

That made Jacob stop, "You're right. Huh, I guess I'll just have to read your file then."

With that the group left talking behind and sat down to wait for news about Melanie.

Chapter Twenty-seven

The next day – Monday, Kristie didn't show up for school. She was there on Tuesday, though. She was there with the news of the demise of Todd Howardson, and that Melanie was recovering from her hysterectomy.

When lunchtime came, she went straight to her science class to find one Mr. O'Neil. She arrived just as the man was leaving.

"Mr. O'Neil!" she called out after him.

He stopped and turned around to her. "Ms. O'Neill?"

"I need to talk to you, Mr. O'Neil. It's about some interesting developments I think you'd like to know about. Privately." Seeing the look in her eyes, John O'Neil nodded once and reopened the locked classroom.

"What's up, Kristie?" he asked as he sat down on one of the tables, motioning for her to do the same.

Kris smiled as she sat down, absently rubbing her stomach, "I'll start at the beginning. Sam's getting promoted to Brig. General, and you owe me two hundred dollars."

Jack's clone raised his eyebrow in Teal'c-like fashion. "You did it?"

She nodded, "It took me two weeks to get them to admit their feelings, but I did it."

John obediently got out his wallet, and wrote a check for two hundred dollars to the girl. "What else is happening?" he asked as he handed it over.

"Stargate's going public on Sunday. Don't be surprised when students come in on Monday with petrified looks on their faces or lots of questions. I'll help answer all that I can, but it's mostly going to be on your shoulders to field them."

John was in shock, "Why?"

Kris shrugged, "All Goa'uld threats have been eliminated and it's now relatively safe out there. Not to mention that President Williams wants to be remembered as the guy who told the truth." She hesitated before continuing, "Jack wants you to be there in Washington when all this goes down. And Williams wants to meet you." At his look of disgust, she added, "I'm pretty much going for the same reason, John. He wants to meet me. Not because I'll be a part of the press conference – that would be too dangerous for my babies – but because that damn man wants to meet me."

"Anything else?"

She smiled sheepishly, "I got Daniel to ask Janet out yesterday."

John's laughter was hearty as he soaked in all the news he was just told.

The pair was interrupted by someone knocking on the door, "Pardon me, but is Kristie O'Neill here?" the man asked.

Kristie looked at the man in the doorway and smiled, "Come on in, Jeff." She turned to John and noticed his confused look. "John, this is Jeff, my boyfriend. Jeff this is Jack's 'other'."

Realization dawned on Jeff's face, "Oh, you're General O'Neill's c-"

Kris cut him off, "No use of the 'c' word until _after_ the press conference!"

John grinned at Jeff knowingly, "So, Jeff…what's your last name?"

"Captain Jeffrey O'Connor."

John nodded, the grin fading, "So, O'Connor? What are your intentions toward my niece?"

Jeff looked alarmed at Kris but she just looked calm and collected, her look saying 'I'm not getting involved in this, get out of it yourself.'

"Umm, strictly honorable, sir."

"Okay, so if I told you that your relationship with Kris is under scrutiny by the Joint Chiefs and you're being demoted to Lieutenant because of it, you'd be okay with it?"

Jeff looked the other squarely in the eye, "First of all, sir, they couldn't do that in the first place because it would be unethical. Second of all, they can't demote me if I retire – which I am very willing to do to keep her reputation clean."

John nodded a smirk appearing on his face, "Good. I hope you also realize that if you ever hurt her, you would be subject to over a hundred kinds of torture?"

Jeff nodded, "General Carter told me it was over a thousand."

John raised an eyebrow gracefully; "Alright then, they've learned alternate methods since last I saw them." He turned his attention back to Kristie; "I guess I'll drop by the house on Friday ready to go on the trip that will change the world."

Chapter Twenty-eight

The first thing that he realized, as his soul swam to consciousness, was the absence of pain of any sort. He remembered drinking, driving, he even remembered the car wreck and the intense pain that accompanied it. But what he _couldn't_ remember was how he got where he was.

He opened his eyes and found himself looking at a middle-aged brunette who was sitting on a park bench. She gazed up at him and smiled, "Hello, Todd. My name is Oma Dasala."

Todd looked around nervously, "Where are we? Wait a minute… I know this place. This is were I first saw Kristie jogging with her mother five years ago." He sat down and looked at Oma questioningly, "Why are we here, Oma?"

Oma smiled again, "There are many reasons why we are where we are in our spiritual journeys, Todd." She waved her hand, encompassing everything he saw, "I took us to a place that was important to you. Your sanctuary, if you will."

"What do you want?"

"I want many things, young one, but most pressing are for you to ascend to a higher plain of existence. Your journey is not yet complete. You will play a vital role in the lives of your children later on. There is no denying what they are and therefore what you are."

Todd felt his unease lift slightly, "Am I dead?"

"How can one truly judge what they are? It is a matter of perspective."

"What must I do to 'continue on my soul's path'?"

Oma grinned, this one was starting to sound a lot like another pupil she had helped ascend before – one Daniel Jackson. "Release your burden, all the anger you carry inside of you."

He sighed, this was going to be very interesting, "I don't know if I can, I was hurt pretty bad. What if I can't?"

"If you immediately know the candle light is fire, then the meal was cooked a long time ago. Release your burden now, or take as long as you need," Oma said, her smile fading.

From what Oma told him, Todd gathered that he had died and she had taken his 'soul' to where they were currently located. He suspected that if this really was Oma Dasala, then he had been worshiping her for a long time as Mother Nature. Being a follower of the Buddhist faith, he knew how powerful she could be.

He also knew that if she really was Oma, she wouldn't let him 'fix' his mistakes, but she would let him try and make amends for them. That meant not being able to change what had happened between him and Kristie, but being able to try and become a better person and prove to her that he could change.

"Okay, so I've been listening to everything you've been telling me, and one thing I just don't understand. I mean, I've always believed in a sort of Zen teaching I guess, but how do I know that you're really Oma Dasala and not an imposter?" Todd asked after about five hours of discussion between the two.

"How deep is the river if you cannot see the bottom?"

Chapter Twenty-nine

The plane ride to Washington started out relatively uneventful. Since they were taking an old Air Force One that the President wasn't using anymore, the ride was made a lot more comfortable for the aliens and pregnant girl.

Passengers consisted of SG-3 as bodyguards and, because Kris refused to step foot near the plane without Jeff with her, said boyfriend and member of SG-10, Sam, Jack, Daniel, Teal'c, Jacob, Kristina, Ishta, Bra'tac (who had arrived on Thursday), and John.

The pilot and co-pilot, decorated Marines who had been hand picked by Hammond to fly the craft carrying so many important people, had joked around with SG-3, (Jeff obviously being held captive by Kris's arm) about how long the flight was going to be and how unfortunate it was, that there was only one bathroom.

That last comment resulted in a wide-eyed Kristina coolly asking if they were joking. When they said that they were, she responded by telling them that it's a _very_ bad idea to joke about lavatories with a pregnant woman on board, one who could single handedly cause each and every one of them to become unable to reproduce.

Needless to say this caused all the joking to cease and everyone to remain so silent that Sam and Jack were able to take a nap, with no comments about their close vicinity to one another.

About half way through the flight, Jeff had joined Sam and Jack in the land of slumber. Fifteen minutes before hand, John had caught Kris's eye and motioned for her to get up and walk with him.

When they were a safe distance away from the sleeping passengers, John turned to his 'niece'. "I was talking with Jack yesterday and he mentioned something about the phrase, 'Daddy's here'. Care to elaborate?"

Kris sighed, "When I first met Jeff, I was literally throwing up fire into a trashcan. I was in real bad shape when he came up behind me, gathered my hair and started trying to sooth me with kind, encouraging words. It was right after he first touched my skin that we both heard the babies say 'Daddy's here'." She shook her head, "That's why I had the paternity testing done. When it came back positive for Todd and negative for Jeff, I didn't know what to think."

John thought about it for a few minutes before enlightenment dawned on his face, "Did you ever consider that maybe Jeff's your soul mate – and the babies knew this and were responding to it?"

The wheels turned in Kris's mind as she thought it over before nodding in consent, "I'd never even thought of that possibility! Thank you John, that puts a lot of things off my mind."

When the plane landed in Washington, the President's personal secretary, and an escort of around ten armed guards and eight Secret Service agents met them. The SG-3 Marines were taken to the White House to do a security check around the rooms the diplomats would be occupying, while the said diplomats (and partners, in the case of Jeff and Kristie) went to a meeting with the UN leaders that already knew about the Stargate.

At about 1800 hours they were still in the meeting and Kris was starting to feel the sudden urge to eat a big juicy steak – an irrepressible urge. She patted Jack on the arm and motioned with her hand that the babies needed food, he glanced at his watch and looked then looked back up to catch General Hammond's eye.

At the look the commander of the military half of the SGC gave him, General Hammond nodded – he was getting hungry himself and if _that_ was true, then he knew for sure that the pregnant teen would be starved.

Hammond stood and nodded to the five other visiting dignitaries from Earth that were gathered there. "I know that all of you are suffering from jet lag, but it is time for the evening meal and some of our number are in need of sustenance," he nodded again to the men, as they all stood to eat at predestinated locations.

"So, since Kris is the pregnant one in the car, I think she should be able to choose where we eat," Jack said as they all piled into the military issue SUV they would be taking.

Kris thought for a second before saying, "I want pie."

Chapter Thirty

She sighed as she plopped down beside her cat on the sofa. Ally picked up the discarded remote control and began to flip idly through the channels. Her finger suddenly stopped clicking as she saw three faces that she didn't think she'd ever see again. One of them was a man she'd met years ago during the summer – Teal'c.

She turned up the volume to hear what it was the man with him (oh, what was his name? Oh yeah! Colonel O'Neill) was saying. "Yep, that was the first mission to Abydos. Long, kinda boring and ending in our involvement in one of the longest wars in existence."

A female reporter raised her hand, and O'Neill motioned for her to speak, "General O'Neill? My question is in regards to how many allies we have out there. As we all can see, there is the Free Jaffa Nation, is that correct? But what about other allies? Where are they?"

It was Sam who answered, "Well, there is a group of rebel Goa'uld who oppose the Goa'uld System Lords completely in philosophy and morals, named the Tok'ra. My own father is the host of one of the oldest and wisest Tok'ra named Selmak. We are also allied with a group of aliens known as the Asgard." She smirked slightly, "But General O'Neill could tell you more about that than I can."

Another reporter raised their hand, "Are those the only allies we have?"

Sam shook her head, "Those are the most technologically advanced allies that we have. We also have a number of allies who maintain a more basic way of life, without the need for advancing technologically."

"How many enemies have you defeated in the past ten years while the Stargate was secret?" a different reporter asked.

Everyone turned to Daniel who responded. "Well, let's start from the beginning shall we? There was the Goa'uld, the Ashen, the rebel Reetou, the rebel Asgard." He looked at Jack, "Who am I forgetting?" Ally could see the older man give him a look. "Oh, yes, the Replicators. Save the most destructive for last."

A young man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, came running into the room and whispered something into General O'Neill's ear. The general stood and quickly followed the first man out of the conference. Sam was fast on his heels. Teal'c stood and spoke his first words the entire meeting, "There has been an incident. This meeting is now finished."

Ally clicked off the television and just sat there, taking in what she was able to piece together. Aliens? Cool! She really needed to get in contact with Teal'c again. She missed him so much.

Chapter Thirty-one

Jack raced through the hallways of the White House; intent upon reaching the room that Kristie was in, so he could assess her situation. Little did he know, that Sam and Jeff were right behind him.

He reached the room and barged in to find Kristina unconscious on the floor with her feet elevated above her head and at least three doctors hovering around her.

Sam took one look at the situation and barked in true 'Jack form', "Everybody move!"

The three doctors all stepped aside so the two Generals could pass, along with the Captain.

Jack checked her pulse; glad to find it strong and steady, before glaring at one of the Secret Service agents in the room. "What happened?" he asked, reverting to full 'Uncle-mode'.

The young agent looked nervously at the angry General, "Well, sir. I don't really know. One minute she was talking to Captain O'Connor, and his teammates. The next minute she's passed out on the floor, sir."

Jack swore under his breath, before the CMO of the three doctors idly standing around, ordered someone to call 9-1-1 so that Kristie could be taken to the hospital right away.

Jack turned around on his feet and nearly walked into Sam. She grabbed him by the shoulders and said, "Breathe, Jack. Just, breathe." He took a few shaky breaths with her and found himself calming down as he was pulled into a trance by Sam's blue eyes.

"Jack?" a groggy voice said from the ground.

Jack looked down swiftly at Kristina, finding her eyes opened and trying to comprehend what happened. He knelt down beside her, "Yeah, Krissy?"

She made a face at her old childhood nick name that she only heard from Jack on very rare occasions. "What happened?"

Jack stroked her hair, "You fainted, Krissy."

"The babies?" she asked with concern.

He shook his head, before saying with a glare at the doctors, "We don't know yet. There's an ambulance on the way to take you to the hospital."

Just then the paramedics rushed into the room and lifted Kristie onto the gurney they were wheeling. "Do you want someone to ride in the ambulance with you, ma'am?" one of the paramedics asked Kris.

Kris nodded, "If Sam could ride with me I'd really appreciate it."

Sam nodded before following Kristie and the paramedics out of the room.

At the hospital, Sam was bombarded with around fifty people coming up to her and asking, "Are you General Carter? The one that was just on the television?"

Sam nodded, "Yep, that's me. Now MOVE!" she barked, in her best 'Colonel O'Neill impersonation'.

After the fifteenth time someone did that to her, she started responding in Russian, causing Kristie to have to stifle a giggle. People just started jumping out of the way as they walked down the hall.

Sam was kicked out of the room they arrived at by the doctor, and went to go wait in the waiting room for Jack, Daniel, Teal'c, and Jeff to arrive. When they got there, before they could say a word, Sam began speaking in Russian to keep up the pretence to bystanders that they just _looked_ like the people most of them just saw on television.

By the time Sam had finished explaining what was happening, the doctor taking charge of Kris came out. "Generals?" he asked tentatively.

Jack nodded for him to continue.

"Well, Kristina is fine considering her condition." He paused, "But I recommend that you get her home as soon as possible, put her on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy, and she needs to have regular weekly check ups with her doctor."

Jack nodded, "Okay then. We better leave now."

Chapter Thirty-two

Thor arrived in D.C. three hours after Kristie was admitted into the hospital. He beamed himself right into the Oval Office, where President Williams was giving an address to the people on the recent revelation of the Stargate.

The little gray alien cocked his head to one side, "Greetings, President Williams."

The president responded in kind, "Greetings, Commander Thor." He looked at the television crew that were set up in the room, "Would you like to say something to the people of this planet, Commander? I'm sure they'd love to hear your perspective on some things."

Thor looked at the camera and blinked, "Greetings, people of Earth. I am Thor, the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. Most of what you have just been told, I am sure is coming as a shock to you, but believe me when I say that the Stargate Program has been in excellent hands and that the most dire of the threats to your world have been destroyed." Thor turned his attention back to the President, "You will forgive me not being able to stay longer, but I needed to locate O'Neill quickly and have just discovered that he is not in the building." With that, there was a flash of light and Supreme Commander Thor disappeared.

"Now, where were we?" the President said, as he turned back to the TV crew.

When Thor had finally located the life signs he had been looking for, he activated the communicator Kris always had with her. "Kristina O'Neill, please respond."

The girl sighed and put her shirt the rest of the way on before picking up the stone and placing it over her heart, "I'm here Thor, what's up?"

"I have just received an activation from the health band I gave you. I am going to beam you and all of your companions aboard my vessel so that I can help with the problem."

"Just a second, Thor, I'm getting dressed. I fainted at the White House so they took me to the hospital… Okay, I'm ready now."

Seconds later she found herself aboard Thor's newest ship with Jack, Sam, Jeff, and Jacob all aboard as well. Without even stopping to say "Hello" Thor proceeded to beam them all back down to the SGC's infirmary.

Kris's knees started to give out after the second transportation beam took place. It did not help matters at all that she was starting to get a very sharp stabbing pain in her lower abdomen – right where her uterus was.

Jeff caught her as she began to fall, "Kris? Kris? Doctor Fraiser get in here quick!"

The petite doctor came running in, "Help me move her onto a gurney!" she ordered the Captain. "Hey, Kristie? an you hear me?" she asked, shining a penlight into the girl's eyes.

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Stabbing pain. In my abdomen."

Janet's eyes grew wide, "I need an ultrasound in here stat!" She looked at Kris, "I think you're going into labor, Kris. We're going to do all that we can to stop it."

With that various nurses ran in with an ultrasound, and to shoo away the other four people.

Jack, Jacob and Jeff all proceeded to pace outside the door to the infirmary, leaving Sam to sit and watch them. Thus it was Sam who was the first to notice the flash of light coming from inside the infirmary.

She raced in and saw that Thor was there with some Asgard healing technology. "Thor! Thank God you're here!"

Thor inclined his head slightly, "It is my pleasure, Col – General Carter. I, nor the Asgard race, can allow Kristina or her children to perish. They are too important to too many people."

Within minutes Kristie and all four babies were stable and doing well. Thor turned back to Sam and found her flanked by all three 'J-men'.

"General?" Janet asked after checking the vitals again, "I'm going to recommend keeping Kristina on medical bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy, sir. There's just too many things that could go wrong, she needs to be close to a doctor at all times."

Jack nodded, "Yeah. She's not going to like it, but, yeah."

Chapter Thirty-three

Kris sighed, as she flipped through the magazine, bored to death. It was a fashion magazine, with styles for pregnant women and new mothers. She saw nothing she liked.

After finishing the magazine, she tossed it into the growing pile by her bed of completed activities given to her. Kris reached for another pointless activity, only to find that she could reach nothing. The pregnant woman sighed, _'Why oh why did I have to be put on a four month bed rest!'_ Kristie reached to her bedside table and pushed the intercom system Janet had had set up just for her.

Just as she was about to say something into the speaker, Jeff came into the room, wheeling a television, followed by the other three members of SG-10. The young man smiled when he saw the state the 'entertainment' materials left for Kris five hours ago.

"Did you finish everything you had to, Kristie?" he asked in a stern voice.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Of _course_ I did! You only gave me three hours of work from school to do, and the magazines – _so_ not amusing."

He grinned sheepishly before waving to his other three team members to come inside. The three of them were cowering in fear by the door, each carrying a box. None of them had yet forgotten the threat Kristie had made to them all on the airplane one-week prior.

It was all the young girl could do not to laugh outright, "I'm not going to bite you! But you should know that there are some things you just don't joke about with a pregnant woman – bathrooms are one of them." As they came closer she added, "Chocolate and pie are other things not to joke about as well."

One of the men smirked slightly, "Sorry, ma'am, won't happen again."

Jeff grinned at his CO's insecurity, "And to prove it we all brought you pie, a television and DVD player, ten of your favorite movies and a small company so you won't get lonely."

Kris could feel tears well up in her eyes; she really didn't deserve this man! She was being so awful to him, not letting him hold her because of what Todd had done, only letting him even touch her when she needed it so much that she initiated it. She knew he was a man and had needs, and she was being an outright bitch to him at times.

Jeff saw the tears and went immediately to her bedside. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Happy tears," she sniffed. "Only happy tears."

He smiled warmly into her eyes, "Good."

An hour later found all four men lounging around in the infirmary with Kristie, watching _The Godfather_. It had been the only action movie in the bunch (which Kris was very disappointed about) and was therefore the logical choice.

Jack entered the infirmary with a pint of Ben and Jerry's half-baked ice cream, which he knew Kris had started craving earlier that week. The sight he found made him smirk. Who would have thought that Colonel Henderson of SG-10 liked to cuddle with a pillow while he watched movies?

He grinned evilly as he realized that no one had noticed his presence yet. He was _so_ going to get them! "Attention!" he barked in his best CO voice.

The four military men all jumped to their feet while Kris just went on watching the movie, turning slightly in Jack's direction to say, "That ice cream had _better_ be for me, Jack."

Jack grinned sheepishly and walked over to give his niece the pint and spoon he carried. She happily continued to watch the movie while eating her prize – the pie had only lasted half an hour with the five of them.

Jeff cleared his throat, "Sir, we're in the middle of _The Godfather_ if you'd like to join us."

Jack nodded, "Thanks, Captain. I'll just do that."

When the movie had finished the members of SG-10 made their hasty retreat, while Jack stayed behind to talk to Kris.

"Krissy?" he said, reverting to her childhood nickname.

"What, Jack?"

He put his hand over hers, "You're parents called me yesterday. They want to see you."

She visibly stiffened at the mention of her parents. "Why'd they wait so long?"

"Apparently everyone was in Ireland when the Stargate hit the press here. They all just got back yesterday." His eyes grew sorrowful, "Nana was diagnosed with cancer."

Tears returned to Kristie's eyes, "Why would they inform you? I thought that when you get disowned, no one even contacts you anymore."

"Normally they don't. But it has come to everyone's attention that Nana is naming you as her sole heir."

The young woman closed her eyes, letting this new piece of information sink in. Her parents wanted to talk to her again. Her grandmother was dying and leaving her as the sole heir to the O'Neill fortune. She was four months pregnant with quadruplets.

With a new determination, Kris opened her eyes, "I'm not leaving the SGC. If they want to see me, they'll have to come here." She paused, "And _if_ they come, I want Nana to be here, along with you, Jeff, and Sam. I'm _not_ meeting with my parents alone."

"No one asked you to, sweetie." Jack gently ran his hand through her hair, "I'll never leave you again, Kristie. I swear it. Even after I die I'll still be here with you."

That statement caused the tears in Kris's eyes to overflow and fall down her face. Jack hugged her protectively, whispering words of comfort into her ear. When the tears had stopped flowing, Kristina leaned back into her pillows. "Can you get me a Bible, Uncle Jonathan?"

He smiled knowingly, "Sure, Kris. I'll get you a Bible."

"Thanks."

"No problem," he said getting up. "Now get some sleep, you'll need your strength to face the _family_."

As the woman drifted into a peaceful slumber, she thought of what this new information meant to her way of life. She dreamt about the face of her dear Grandmother O'Neill, commonly referred to as Nana.

Chapter Thirty-four

Kris's nerves played a number on her as she waited for her family to arrive. Sam was slowly brushing the other woman's hair and spiking it – the first time Kristie's hair had been done since Washington. Kristie held Jeff's gaze from where he sat, a good five yards away from her.

Being on bed rest meant little to no pressure on her feet, so while dressing, Kristie had to be sitting down and often had to have someone helping her if she wanted to wear pants. She was currently sitting in a wheelchair, so she didn't feel like a complete invalid when her parents showed up.

"So," Sam started. "What are they like?"

"What are who like, Sam?" Kristie asked, feigning innocence.

"Your family. Jack's family."

Kris grabbed Sam's hand and brought the older woman around to face her. "You already know. In fact, you know a lot more about them than I do."

Sam frowned at Kristina's cryptic message, but didn't respond. In truth, she didn't have a chance to, because right at that moment Jack walked into the room leading four of his brothers, three sisters, and his mother.

Kristie visibly grew cold and distant at the appearance of her family. She shot her father a glare, "You didn't have to bring the whole army, you know."

Bran, Devin, Doran, Finnbar, Mave, Kiera and Líle, all watched in stunned silence as their mother walked up to her oldest grandchild and embraced the girl.

"Nana," Kristina whispered, as she soaked in the sent of her grandmother and friend.

"Kristina," Nana responded with a thick Irish accent. "What's this I hear about you being pregnant, my girl?" The spunky old woman said as she put some distance between the two of them while still holding onto her hand.

Kris smiled shyly and motioned for her Nana to sit. "Well, as you can see, I am four months pregnant with quadruplets – two girls and two boys." Her eyes grew serious as her grandmother sat down in the chair next to Kris's wheelchair. "Serious, now, Nana. What stage is the cancer in?"

Nana sighed and ran a hand through her shoulder length salt and pepper hair. "It's the second stage of lung cancer." She forced a smile, "Don't worry, the doctors gave me years to live."

Kristy took in her grandmother's brave smile and looked down sadly, "And what's this I hear about me being named _sole_ heir?"

Nana looked down at their entwined fingers; "You are my oldest grandchild, Kristina. And you are the mother of my first-born great-grandchildren. When my husband died we talked about whom to name heir." She looked her granddaughter in the face, "We both thought that you were the best and logical choice."

"That's actually what we're here to talk to you about, Kristina," Devin said in his authoritative 'older uncle' and 'family lawyer' voice. "We want you to sign over the rights to your inheritance to one of us."

"That's absurd!" Jack glared at his older brother menacingly. "Why should she?"

Devin met his brother's gaze head on. It was remarkable how alike the two were when they were six years apart in age, and looked nothing alike. While Jack strongly took after their father's side of the family – the O'Neill side - Devin and Doran took after their mother's side, with black hair and green eyes.

"Because, _brother_, the family would be better off with myself or Líle in charge of the finances." Devin shot back.

Líle looked up at the sound of her name, "Don't you start bringing _me_ into this, Devin! It was your idea to ask her to give up her inheritance. Yours and Doran's! I had nothing to do with it."

Jack shot his twin another of his famous glares, "Of course you didn't sister dear. You never have anything to do with anything that happens to the family."

"How _dare_ you…"

"What's the matter, Líle? Truth hurts, doesn't it? But somehow I don't recall you coming to my aid when they kicked me out of the family – or Kristie's when _she_ got disowned!"

Sam and Jeff were both in shock at this outburst. Neither one of them had seen the O'Neill siblings argue before – especially Jack. Sam was about to yell at him to calm down when Nana beat her to it. "Shut your faces, all of you!"

The old woman stood up, keeping one of her hands in Kris's. "Now, I'm going to point out something that I don't think any of you besides Jack has realized – the inheritance is _my_ choice and it will go to whomever _I_ say it will." Nana glared at each of her children in turn, "For shame! I thought your father and I raised you all better than this. Now the fact remains that there is some unfinished business for me to attend to before I die." This last comment was made looking dead into Doran's eyes, "And part of that entails reinstating Kristina to her proper Irish title and her proper place. Both of which were so abruptly and rudely taken away from her _without _cause."

At this Mave took up the narrative, "Mother and I have talked it over with the our lawyers, and they informed us that the request to have Kristina stripped of her title and family name had not gone through completely yet," she turned to her niece, "So, my dear. If you want it, you can come home."

Kristie shook her head, "You don't get it do you? With all of you I was _never_ home. I only found out what _home_ was when I moved in with Jack, Aunt Mave. I had to act every waking second of every day that I was living in that awful mansion. Here I can openly talk about my best friends – one of which is an alien! Here I'm safe and loved and protected." She looked sorrowfully into her aunt's deep green eyes; "Here I've found a great guy who loves me despite the fact that he knows I'm pregnant with someone else's children. Here I've found someone who's willing to take me shopping for groceries at the local mini mart. Here I've found a man who's willing to spend hours a day teaching me how to do yoga while I'm bedridden. Here I've found someone who understands what I'm saying if I go off talking about the finer points of medieval Grecian culture. _Here_, I'm home."

Mave nodded and backed off, knowing nothing could change the girl's mind. Kris looked around at all of her relatives, stopping at her father, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like you all to leave, unless you want to talk about something other than this ridiculous matter of inheritance and disowning family members."

Chapter Thirty-five

"Airmen!" Jack commanded coldly. When the two SF's guarding the door stepped forward, Jack instructed, "Take my siblings to the surface and see them out of the complex."

The two men nodded and motioned for Jack's brothers and sisters to follow. Kiera hesitated. When the Airman was about to forcibly remove the woman from the room, Kristie stopped him, "No, wait, if she has something else to say to me, let her."

The SF nodded and proceeded to escort the remaining six from the room. Surprisingly enough, they went quietly. "What is it, Aunt Kiera?"

Kiera looked so much like Jack it was almost scary. Her hair was starting to become the silver shade that Jack's had acquired, and she had the same facial structure. "I just wanted you to know that I'm happy you've finally found a place to call home, Kristina. And I'm glad that Thor was able to help you as much as Gefjon was able to help me."

Nana looked confused at her daughter, "Who?"

It was Kristie who answered, "In Norse mythology, Gefjon was the goddess of virgins. I assume that she is an Asgard – Thor's race."

Kiera nodded, "She is. Gefjon helped me through some of the worst things I've had to go through. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for her." She looked around nervously, spotting Jeff in the corner, "I don't believe we've been introduced, sir. I'm Kiera Stevens, Jack's younger sister."

Jeff stood politely, "I'm Captain Jeff O'Connor, a member of SG-10."

Kristina smiled at the look of shock on her aunt's face, "Aunt Kiera, Nana, this is my boyfriend." She grabbed Sam's hand again and pulled her forward, "And this is Brig. General Samantha Carter."

Nana smiled warmly at Sam while the younger woman nervously took her hand. "So you're Samantha Carter? I've heard a lot about you from my son." She took Sam's hand and gazed invitingly into her eyes, "And what he told me after the disclosure of the Stargate is nothing short of miraculous. Blowing up a sun?"

Sam blushed, "It was actually Jack who gave me the initial idea to do it."

The gray haired woman looked at her son fondly, "I wouldn't be surprised. You know when Jack was a lad, he burned down one of our summer homes in Ireland?"

Jack groaned as his mother mentioned the tale. Sam sat down next to Nana on the bed and the two took each other's hands.

"Oh, _great_, Ma," Jack exclaimed. "While your telling her about that incident why don't you tell her what I got on the SAT's and that time Dad bought me a telescope for my eighth birthday!"

Nana looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, if you really want me too…"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!"

When Siler passed by the room a few minutes later, he could distinctly hear the sounds of General O'Neill cursing, and laughter emanating from Kristina and General Carter.

Chapter Thirty-six

When the laughter had died down, Sam turned to Nana again, "Will you tell me that story now?"

Nana smiled the dimples in her cheeks becoming more prominent. Sam could tell where Jack had gotten _those_. "When Jonathan here was about ten years old, we were in Ireland for the summer, checking up on how the pubs were doing and the such.

"Well, I had taken the girls all out shopping for a dance we were to be holding, telling the boys to behave while we were gone. Apparently, Connor had taken the older lads with him to go check up on some of his friends." Nana shook her head fondly, "The poor man made the mistake of leaving Jonathan alone with the servants – and enough raw materials to make a bomb."

Sam's eyes went wide, "Are you telling me that…?"

Nana nodded, "Yes, my dear, Jonathan made a bomb out of cleaning products, and blew up his room, which successfully caught the house on fire. The servants tried to put it out, but they couldn't so they all left to stand in the front yard – watching the house go up in flames after getting out the most valuable possessions and the things the children loved most."

Silence followed Nana's story, everyone besides Kris and Kiera staring intently at Jack to gage his reaction. Sam snorted when the laughter got too great for her to keep it silent.

The chain reaction was actually quite humorous to behold. It all started with that little snort, then Sam started laughing outright, followed by Nana, Jack and Kris, next came Jeff, who just figured out _why_ it was so hilarious. Kiera held out the longest, remembering fondly her favorite doll that was lost in the flames.

About half an hour later, the small group was in the commissary (the babies were really hungry for some chocolate cake covered in steak sauce) minus Jeff, who had to get back to the never ending pile of paper work the ranking officers at the SGC had to deal with.

"So, Nana?" Sam asked, taking a bite of her blue Jell-O. The theoretical astrophysicist had finally started calling Nana 'Nana' after much prodding.

"Yes, dear?"

"What _did_ Jack get on his SAT's?"

Nana winked at her son, who was silently begging her not to say that number out loud. "Do you have a pen?"

Pondering her need for a pen, Sam handed the older woman one. Nana then proceeded to write something on a napkin before sliding it across the table to Sam, who was sitting directly in front of the other woman.

Sam looked at the number, one of her eyebrows raising in perfect Teal'c fashion as the number hit home. "Wow."

The sole thing written on the napkin was this: _1450_.

No wonder that was Jack's favorite year.

Sam looked at him with mischief in her eyes. "So much for the 'dumb General' act, huh sir?"

Jack looked down sheepishly, "Yeah, so what? I'll do practically anything for you to keep that number secret. What do you want?"

Sam pretended to think for a few seconds before breaking out in a grin the scared Jack more than Ba'al ever had. "I want you to actually _try_ blue Jell-O."

Relief was evident in Jack's entire continence. "Yeah, sure, you betcha."

Sam pushed her half eaten glass to Jack, who proceeded to over dramatically take a bite. Making a big deal about swallowing, when Jack was done and had slid the glass back to Sam, there was a big pause waiting for his thoughts on the blue concoction.

"Tastes… blue."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Thirty-seven

The small group was on their way up to the surface as it was getting late and Nana and Kiera had to be heading home. The trip was made in silence as everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

At the top, Nana pulled Sam aside before getting into the car. "Samantha," she said quietly so she wouldn't be overheard. "I've never seen my Jonathan this happy. You've done a lot for him. He truly loves you and you him. So, when's the wedding?"

Sam smiled at the woman who had filled part of the empty hole her mother's death had left. "We haven't set a date yet. Actually he hasn't 'officially' asked me yet."

"But you've talked about marriage?"

"Yes, he even gave me an eternity ring, but the actual proposal hasn't come yet."

Nana smiled and touched Sam's cheek affectionately, "It will come soon, my dear, don't worry."

Sam grinned in response, "I try not to."

"Come on, Mom." Kiera called from the limo's door, "We've got to go home."

With one last smile for the three left, Nana got into the car and it drove off.

Sam turned to Jack, "Did you realize that we're getting transparent?"

"What?"

"You're mother knows."

Kristie giggled, "When you two got called to the control room during lunch Kiera asked what was going on between the two of you and Nana answered that you two must be dating before I even had a chance to respond."

"She didn't!" Sam said, shocked at the younger woman. "It could cause a lot of trouble right now if our relationship becomes public knowledge!"

Jack shook his head, "My family is very good about keeping secrets, Sam. We don't have to worry about my little sister _or_ my mother."

Halfway through the ride back down, Kristie spoke, "You do realize that after your relationship is made public knowledge, they'll probably want to televise the marriage, right?"

Sam's big eyes met Jack's. Now _there_ was a scary thought.

Back in her room, Kristie found a nurse waiting for her. "Ma'am?" the Lieutenant said nervously. "There's been a young woman calling on your cell phone for the past half hour wanting to speak with you. Her name is Clara Smith."

Kris was overjoyed to hear this news. She had missed talking to the head cheerleader, one of her best friends. "Patch her through."

Kris was nearly bouncing off the walls in glee as the Lieutenant brought the telephone back with her before leaving Kristie alone again. "Hey Clara!"

"Kris? Oh, thank God! I've been trying to reach you for like the past half hour!"

"I know, I was with my Nana and my uncle. Sorry."

"Well, I have some pretty big news so, you're probably going to have to talk to your uncle again."

"Why, what's up?"

"Well, Cheyenne High is having a rally because of the announcement about the whole Stargate Program, and they want your uncle and his team… what was it called. Oh yeah! SG1, to be there. It's kinda in honor of them."

"I'll have to ask him, but when is it?"

"It's in two months. On February 20th."

"Okay, I'll talk to him and get back to you about that." Kristie settled back against her bedding, "So, care to fill me in on all the gossip going around the school?"

"Well, there's this outrageous rumor that you and that hunk, Mr. O'Neil are related."

Kris laughed outright at that, "It's not too far from the truth, Clara! But it's not my place to tell you what the truth is."

"Okay, well, there's also a number of rumors spread around about why you're not at school anymore. One of which is that you're an alien and needed to go back to your own planet. Another is that you're really a spy working for the government and that you're pregnant with an alien hybrid."

Kris's laughter was music to the ears of all the tired infirmary workers who knew that as soon as they stepped out of that mountain they'd be bombarded with paparazzi wanting to get their pictures and their 'personal stories' of what it's like working in an underground facility with real live aliens.

Chapter Thirty-eight

"What do you mean, 'they won't let me ascend'!"

"I mean exactly what I've told you, Todd. HE won't let you ascend. There was no _they_ in the discussion, Todd. HE won't let you."

If they had been on the physical plane, Todd would have broken something in his rage. "But _why_, Oma?"

Oma just stood there, as calm as a tree in summer. "Why doesn't the humming bird trust the falcon?"

Todd thought that over for a few seconds, his anger increasing once he had found the answer, "I'm a _danger_ to you?"

Oma shook her head, "No. But your temper is a danger to the work I do and to the lives of the Others. Whether you want to believe it or not, HE takes a part in every being that reaches the level of ascension. If HE doesn't want it to happen, it won't." Her celestial form smiled softly, "That is, if it doesn't infringe on HIS gift of free will. If you were to ascend with your current beliefs and ways, you would become a being worse than the Ori." Her eyes became saddened as she looked at the angry energy before her, "And that is something that HE will not and _cannot_ allow."

"Who is HE?"

"HE is everything. Always watching you, always there. You cannot hide anything from HIM. And HE doesn't want you to ascend."

Todd sighed, resigned to his fate, "What happens now?"

"You get a second chance."

"At what?"

"At life. You get a second chance to make amends for all your past wrongs. A chance to have a relationship with your children. A chance to do good or evil, depending on which path you choose to follow."

Todd nodded, "Will I ever see you again, Oma?"

Oma smiled, "It depends on what HIS will is. Does the bee know if it will go to the same flower again the next week? Only HE can tell the future, and thus, only HE knows."

"Alright then, I'm ready."

"Goodbye, Todd."

"Goodbye, Oma."

"And that is why I think you should let me take a team to the mineral planet, ma'am!" Lt. Haley concluded her rehearsed speech to Sam.

Before the Brigadier General could reply, there was a flash of white light and a naked man appeared on the table that separated her from Haley. Sam immediately recognized the man as Todd Howardson. Quickly, she pressed the security alert button on the wall and waited while the SF team got there.

Chapter Thirty-nine

"O'Neill!" Teal'c called as he spotted Jack getting in the elevator. Jack stopped the door and waited for his friend to enter.

"T! What's happenin'?"

"O'Neill, what is 'happening' is the reason I have called out to you."

Jack got serious, wondering what his Jaffa brother was so worried about. "What's wrong, T?"

"I do not know. I was summoned to Kristina O'Neill's chamber a few minutes ago. Do you know what has transpired?"

Jack's grin came back, full force, "Yep. Kris was talking to me about it yesterday; I just got the go ahead from the White House. She'll fill us all in when we get there."

Teal'c bowed slightly, "Very well."

When the two men arrived at Kristie's private room, they found a _very_ unexpected surprise. Standing beside Kristie's bedside was Jeff and Todd, arguing loudly about who was the babies' father.

"I'm their biological father, not you!"

"Yeah, well, I'm their father in every other sense of the word. You freackin' _raped_ her! That makes you a sperm donor, _not_ a father!"

Before the argument could go any further, Teal'c did something he had rarely done since his days as being Apophis's First Prime. He shouted, "Kree!"

Both men stopped their shouting instantly, and Kris gave Teal'c a thankful expression.

Jack shot a glare at Todd before turning to Kristie, "What's he doing here?"

"Oma wouldn't let him ascend so she sent him back here."

"Oh." He turned to Sam, who was waiting patiently on beside Kris, "Does no one _stay_ dead in this place?"

Sam smiled, "Well, I can think of a number of interesting things that could result from Todd being alive." The glint of anger in her eyes made Jack shudder. Oh, yeah, _no one_ besides them knew that Todd was alive – or where he was.

"Airman!" Jack called, keeping his eyes on Todd (who just so happened to be cowering in fear). When the young man came up, Jack turned to him, "Escort _Mr. Howardson_ to holding cell alpha. I want a guard of at least four SF's watching him at all times. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The man said before turning to Todd and another SF in the room. The two of them escorted the boy away, having a fairly good idea of what was in store for him.

After the three of them had left, Jack turned his attention back to Kristie, "So, we all here yet?"

Kristie smiled at her uncle's ability to change the subject so abruptly after such an _interesting_ experience. She looked around sarcastically, "Do _you_ see Daniel hiding somewhere I don't?"

"I'm _here_!" Daniel announced loudly as he made a big display of walking into the room, having heard the last thing Kristina had said.

Sam grinned as Kristie started giggling. The two J-men just looked at Daniel like he'd gone crazy.

Jack rolled his eyes, "So, are we all here _now_, Krissy?" he asked after she had gotten her laughter under control.

She nodded, and then winced suddenly. Jeff was at her side instantaneously. "What's wrong, Kris?" he asked worriedly as everyone else started crowding around the bed.

She shook her head, "Nothing, it's just beat up on Mom day – again." She looked at all of them in turn, seeing the skepticism in their eyes she asked, "Do you want to feel it?"

The J-men, as was expected, were the first to place their hands on Kristie's swollen belly. She moved them so that they were over the spots she knew would be next hit and waited as one of her children felt the pressure and responded to it.

Jeff took his hand off his girlfriend's belly, grinning like a fool. He looked up at his boss and found the same shit-eating expression mirrored on his face.

"Daniel, give me your hand," Kris told him sternly.

"But, it hurts you when they kick," he said, taking a step back from the bed.

Kris looked at him pointedly as she placed Teal'c massive hand over her stomach, "They'll be kicking anyway, Daniel. It doesn't exactly matter if there's a hand there or not."

"Okay," he said, still worried that he would be causing the woman pain.

After Teal'c had felt the punch from one of the children, he smiled, "It would seem that your children are learning how to fight even in the womb, Kristie O'Neill. That was a properly executed Jaffa punch that I taught your uncle five years ago."

Kris shrugged, replacing Teal'c's hand with Daniel's and Sam's. "Yeah, they've done drop kicks a few times as well."

As soon as everyone had had a turn 'feeling the babies', Kris smiled knowingly. "So, I bet all of you are wondering why I've asked you down here. Well, all of you except Jack and Jeff. Jack already knows, and I asked Jeff to come down because I wanted pie."

Everyone chuckled at that, then she continued, "My high school, Cheyenne High, wants to hold a school rally in honor of SG-1 and the public announcement of the Stargate." She grinned, "Apparently the cheerleaders are coming up with a brand new cheer in honor of you guys."

Daniel was flabbergasted, "Why?"

"Well Daniel, it seems that the head cheerleader, who happens to be one of my friends, thought that you were cute."

"WHAT!"

Chapter Forty

Kristie was lying in bed, trying to sleep when she heard a knock on the door. She opened her sleepy eyes and found Jeff standing in the doorway smiling.

She smiled lazily back at him, "Come on in." She moved over slightly on her bed and motioned for him to join her.

He hesitated slightly, "Are you sure?"

She glared at him; "I've been stuck in this bed for over a month, only seeing you when you can find time to visit. If I want to snuggle with my boyfriend, I _will_. Now get your flyboy ass over here and hold me, damn it!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he said quickly as he snapped a salute and went to obey.

As Jeff settled into the bed beside Kristina, she snuggled up against him. Sighing she said, "That's better."

Jeff gently stroked Kristie's arm with one of his hands. "I went and saw Melanie today," he said softly.

"Hmm? What happened?"

"They got all of the cancer out. She's going to have to do chemo for a while to make sure they really got it all, but she'll be okay."

Kris turned to the Airman lying next to her and kissed him gently on the lips, "Excellent."

They laid there like that for a good, long while, in silence just relishing the ability to hold one another. It was Jeff who broke that wonderful nothingness of sound by saying, "Kristie? Have you thought about what you're going to do after the babies come?"

She nodded, turning so her head was lying on his chest. "Yes, I really don't know what to do though. I thought about buying a house, but I don't like the idea of living alone. Then I thought about hiring a nanny, or maybe even four, to help me with the children. I just don't know anymore."

Jeff made her look into his eyes before responding, "Would you be completely adverse to the idea of buying a house and moving in with me?"

Tears started to form in Kris's eyes, _Damn hormones_, she thought to herself as she nodded, "That's the best idea I've heard in a long time, Jeff. Do you already have a house picked out?"

The tan man grinned sheepishly, "Maybe. I actually was looking at three. They're rather large, so the four babies can be in the same rooms while they're small, and then expand later." He looked down as he added, "And so you can have your own room if you want."

Now it was Kristie's turn to make Jeff look at her, "I really do love you. I know that we've only known each other for about three months, but that's how I feel. Living with you and the babies is the first step, sharing a bed with you will have to come _later_. It's not that I don't want to – really it's quite the opposite. But I think that we need to learn a bit more about each other before taking a plunge like having sex."

Jeff smiled, nodding, "I was thinking along those same lines, it's just I feel like I've known you for my entire life, and can't imagine life without you. I love you too, Kris."

The young woman smiled again, kissing him lightly, yet passionately, on the lips. "I know. I've known ever since you first touched my neck and calmed the babies down."

After finally falling into a very fitful sleep in Jeff's arms, Kris was very surprised to wake up and discover that she was alone. Seeing a note on her 'dresser', she picked it up and saw it was from Jeff:

_Hey girl,_

_I'm sorry I'm not here with you right now, but SG10 had to go on a rescue mission for SG7. I should be back soon. I love you._

_-Jeff_

She smiled fondly at the handwriting before noticing a persistent knocking on her door. Kris looked up to see that on his way out, Jeff had closed the door to give her some privacy. "Come in!" she hollered at whoever was on the other side.

In walked one person Kristie knew she had to talk to, and was actually happy to see – Sam.

"Hey, Sam, how are you?"

The blonde smiled at the younger woman, "I'm good, how 'bout you?"

The pregnant teen grimaced, "As well as can be expected, I guess. You know, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Really?" Sam said, sitting down in a chair near the bed, "What?"

Kristie took one of Sam's hands and placed it on her belly, "I know a great deal more about the nature of my children then I've told Jack. Within my womb is a child for each element. Jeff only knows that there is fire within one of my children." She looked Sam in the eye, "But there's air, water and earth, as well."

Sam was truly dumbstruck, "How do you know all this?"

"In the first stage of my pregnancy, I would alternate between throwing up nothing at all to dispelling clear water from my body. I've been requiring ten times the amount of fruits and vegetables that _any_ pregnant woman should have to eat, and my ability to withstand the heat has increased five fold."

The astrophysicist nodded, trying to piece everything together. "And you wanted me to know?"

The younger woman smiled impishly, taking Sam's hand that was laid on her stomach in one of her own. "That and I wanted to ask you something that's very important."

"What is it?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about what to name my children. I picked out both of the names for my sons, and two names for my daughters, but I would like your permission for one of them."

"What is it?"

"I would like to name one of my daughters 'Samantha Cosette'."

Tears welled in Sam's eyes; "You want to name one of your daughters after me?"

"Yes," Kris nodded, pulling Sam into a hug as her eyes started to replicate the tears in Sam's.

Sam smiled warmly; thrilled that the girl before her would think her an appropriate person to name a child after, and that she would only do so with her permission. "I'd be _beyond_ honored if you named your daughter after me."

Chapter Forty-one

"Ding dong, the witch is dead! Which old witch? The wicked witch! Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!"

"I don't think that's a Christmas song, Kristie," Jack said with laughter in his eyes, as he watched his niece untangle the lights for the Christmas tree Janet was letting them put up in her room.

She just stuck her tongue out at him, "Shows how much you know, Jack! Don't you know that pregnant women are always right? And I said it was a Christmas song! Ha!"

"What ever you say, dear," Jack chuckled as he strung more popcorn onto the string he was holding.

"So, what are you two up to?" Sam asked as she walked into Isolation Room 3 (a.k.a. Kristie's residence until the quadruplets were born) with Daniel. They each had a big box full of presents that they set down by the tree, Sam stopping to give Jack a quick kiss.

Kristie smiled, "Just arguing about 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead.' Jack doesn't believe me that it's a Christmas song."

Sam looked at the pregnant woman in mock horror before turning to Jack, "Don't you know that pregnant women are always right? Not to mention that the first time I saw that movie was Christmas day."

"Ah."

The rest of the day sped by rather quickly for Kristie. She was so happy that it was getting closer to Christmas and she was thrilled that she would get to spend said holiday with Nana, Jack, Jeff, Sam, Teal'c, Daniel, and even some of her school friends were getting special permission from Jack to be able to come down to celebrate with her.

All in all, it was very easy for Kristie to fall into the Christmas spirit.

Christmas Eve came around in no time at all for Kristie. Of course since she was doing all of her shopping on line and having everything shipped to Janet's house so she could wrap and label everything for the very pregnant girl, there wasn't much for Kristie to do. It had been agreed on that Christmas eve should be spent doing more of a family thing, so Kris waited patiently as Jack, Teal'c, Sam, Daniel, and Jeff all came by to see what the teen had picked out for them and to drop by their gifts for her.

Jeff was the first one to show up, purposefully coming long before he expected anyone else to show up. "Hey, Kris," he whispered as he bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Jeff, what's up?" Kris said as she returned the kiss. "I was expecting at least another hour before people started showing up. And I was planning on using that for a nap." She smiled lovingly at him, "But time with you is a nice alternative."

Jeff smirked, "Glad to know that you'd consider sleep deprivation in order to be in my company. Hey, look, I brought you pie."

She smiled her thanks as she began eating. When she was done, she looked back at Jeff, waiting for him to get to the point of his visit.

He was sweating like a pig, and the deodorant wasn't helping very much at all. "Look, Kris. I know that we've only known each other for four months, but not a day goes by now that I don't think about our future together. Not mine, not yours separately, but ours. This may be a bit sudden, but I wake up in the morning with thoughts of you, and I go to sleep each night thinking of you. Now, don't get embarrassed, I don't think of you in a perverted, or stalkerish way. I just think about you. I love you, so much. No, don't interrupt me. If I don't say this all now, I may never find the nerve to say it again. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He got down on one knee, "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her answer was immediate and without hesitation, "Yes." She pulled him off the ground and into her arms, kissing him passionately. "I love you, too."

Little did they know – well, little did Kris know, Jeff helped plan this – under the same tree he had given her the promise ring under all those months ago, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter were sitting again, gazing up at the sky as the stars came out to twinkle down upon the earth.

Sam looked up at them, not thinking of the molecular composition of the stars, but just basking in their beauty and light, letting everything else just fall away. It was ever easy for her to realize why Jack had taken up stargazing during his years in Special Ops.

The silver haired man simply gazed at the woman beside him. He loved her so much it hurt to think about. And right then and there he knew that the ring he had been carrying around for this night was going to be given right on time.

"Sam," he whispered, causing her to look at him curiously. He knelt on the snow in front of her. "Sam, I know we've only actually been in a romantic relationship for a short time, but we've known each other for years and I can't even imagine living another day without you." He took out the ring and she gasped when she saw its simple elegance as the small diamond glittered in the star and moonlight. "I'm not a man of many words so I'm just going to ask. Will you marry me?"

Sam stared at Jack, trying to form words with a mind that was still in shock. "Yes," she said as he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a simple silver band with three small square cut diamonds on it, along with a small script that she couldn't read. "What's it say, Jack?"

He smiled lovingly at his fiancée, "It says, _I'll never leave you, nor forsake you_."

She studied it closer, "It looks like it's written in Asgard."

"It is."

Sam's head shot up to look at him again, wondering just how long he'd been planning on doing this and loving him all the more for it. "I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too, Sam." When they came up for air after a passionate kiss, Jack dragged Sam off the ground, "Come on, I want to see what Kristie thinks of her ring."

Sam smiled faintly then his words echoed in her ears '_her_ ring', "Kristie's engaged?"

Jack smirked at Sam before saying, "Jeff certainly hopes so."

The two ran through the nearly deserted halls of the SGC. The only people still on base were those that didn't have families to go home to (or didn't celebrate Christmas) and had volunteered to work that night. Jack and Sam didn't meet anyone on their long trek to the isolation room.

There they found the newly engaged couple still locked in each other's arms. To break them apart, Jack coughed loudly before stage whispering to Sam, "Think we should take a picture? The kids might like to know that Mom and Dad were caught in compromising situations before."

"Nah, too easy!"

Jeff and Kristie broke apart, blushing as they did so. Jeff's face bore a shit-eating grin as he looked at Jack and said, "She said 'yes'!"

Jack's grin mirrored his soon to be nephews', "So did she!"

Sam and Kris exchanged a look that clearly asked if the other knew how long the two J-men had been planning this little adventure.

Before anyone else had a chance to continue this conversation, however, "Off-world Activation" came over the loud speaker and the klaxons started blaring. Sam and glanced at Kris briefly to see if she would mind them ditching her. At her negative response, both of them dashed out of the room to see what was the matter with _their_ base.

Jeff put his hands in his pockets in a very Jack like moment and looked down in terror as he felt the little velvet box therein.

When he looked back up, he found Kris grinning at him like he just did the most adorable thing in the world. The problem was, Jeff didn't know what he had done.

"What?" he asked irritated.

Her grin just got bigger, "Nothin'. It's just you remind me so much of Jack sometimes it's a little bit scary. Not to mention I'm pretty sure that you just found the engagement ring you forgot to give me."

Jeff blushed, "Yeah." He knelt down by Kristie's bedside again and opened up the box to reveal a gold band embedded with a small ruby that was surrounded by tiny diamonds. It was perfect.

"Oh, Jeff," Kris cried as he slid the ring onto her finger. "It's wonderful." They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes only to have the moment broken by a cough from the doorway.

Looking up, both were met with the laughing eyes of Jacob Carter, Sam, Teal'c, and Jack. "Forgot to give her the ring?" Jack asked Jeff.

"No!" the young man said indignantly. Kristie's laughing look told Jack the exact opposite. "Hey!" Jeff said when he saw her look; "I just gave it to you! All it was was a delayed reaction."

"Don't worry, son," Jacob said, his eyes still laughing, "When I got engaged to Sam's mom, I completely forgot about the ring for two weeks. Only finding it when I let Margarete wear my jacket when we were walking home after dinner one night and she found it."

Everyone laughed at Jacob's folly, but they were once again interrupted by the arrival of more visitors for Kristie and her little Christmas celebration. This time it was Daniel and two women Jeff hadn't met before with one wheeling Nana in a wheelchair.

Jack's countenance changed as he saw who was entering the room, "I thought you just invited Nana, Kris?"

Kris was just as upset to see the two women there as Jack was, "I did," Turning her attention to the two new women, "What in the world are you doing here, Mother?"

The woman who was pushing the wheelchair looked at her counterpart, the younger woman shrugged. Her raven black hair done up tightly in a bun, making her look like the feared librarian that made everyone stay away from the library.

"I came to see my daughter, Kristina," she said in a crisp, English accent. "A mother is allowed to do that."

Kris shook her head; "You were there right along with Dad when he called Mr. Stevens to have me legally disowned. I'm not your daughter." With that she reached out and grabbed Jeff's hand with her left, unknowingly flashing her new engagement ring to her relatives.

Kristie's mom was too shocked to answer her daughter, but when Kayley (Jack's sister for all of you that forgot) saw the band, she blanched, "So, you had to go and find a guy willing to let you play the whore, Kristina?"

There was no warning for the woman before the punch came. She had mere milliseconds to analyze the giant strides Jack was taking across the room before his right fist connected with Kayley's jaw. She dropped like one of Daniel's most important rocks – artifacts – in the hands of one Jack O'Neill.

"Don't you _ever_ say _anything_ like that again, _Kayley_," Jack said in an unearthly low tone. Kayley brought her hand up to her jaw as Nana and Kris's mother looked in horror at Jack.

Jack's glare turned on his brother's wife, "And _you_, Beatrice. You have _no_ right to be here. Only_ my mother_ was invited to attend this celebration. You were not."

"Jonathan O'Neill!" Nana cried in furry. "I did not raise you to treat your sister and sister-in-law like this!" Before he could say anything to that she continued, "Provocation is _no_ reason. The fish can choose not to take the bait." Turning to her daughters she said, "I told you both it would have been better if I had gotten James to drive me here. Please leave. I'll get this nice young man to drive me home," she said, patting Daniel's hand like the loving grandmother that she was.

As the two women turned on their heels and left by way of the general infirmary to grab an ice pack, Nana turned to her granddaughter, "It's good to see you, my dear."

Kris smiled, relieved at how easily her grandmother had eased the rising tension in the room. "Merry Christmas, Nana."

Chapter Forty-two

"Oh, Sam! You look just like Cinderella did when she went to the ball!" Kris cried joyfully as she looked at her uncle's girlfriend dressed magnificently in the gown Kristie had procured for her all those months before.

"Indeed, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said, bowing his head slightly, "You look most beautiful."

Sam beamed at the praise being bestowed upon her by her soon to be niece and one of her best friends. Tonight was the night of the black and white ball that President Williams was hosting at the White House in honor of the tenth anniversary of the SGC… and probably because it was public now.

"I feel kind of like an imposter in all of this jewelry and this dress," Sam admitted as she smiled at Kris, sad that the younger girl couldn't go with them.

Kristie dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand, "Nonsense! You look beautiful in that dress and in the jewelry. You're like the Queen of the SGC in a sense, and _every_ queen needs her jewels."

Sam blushed rather prettily at the compliment but was saved having to respond by the arrival of Jack.

"Hello, campers!" he said cheerily as he walked into the room. When his eyes fell of Sam they grew wide, soaking in every little detail about the dress and her. Jack's eyes lingered a little longer than necessary on her left hand.

"You look like a goddess," Jack whispered when his eyes found hers.

Sam blushed again, this time coming up with a smirk, "I wonder if I'll have the same effect on men that a certain 'ex-goddess' did…"

Jack and Daniel shuddered simultaneously at that comment. "That's just wrong on _so_ many levels," Jack said to Sam.

Janet showed up then, dressed just like Sam – to the nines – in her own black based ball gown. The difference lay in that Janet's gown had an empire waist and the fabric inside of the tapered skirt was white as snow.

"Ready to go?" she questioned. Because Jack wanted to stay with Kris as much as he possibly could considering her condition at six months pregnant with quadruplets, the two remaining members of SG1, the two CO's and the CMO of the SGC would all be using Asgard beaming technology to make their 'big entrance' into the Black and White Ball.

"Yeah, sure, you betcha," came out of the mouths of Sam and Jack simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned before Sam blushed lightly and looked away.

Teal'c skillfully raised an eyebrow, "Indeed."

All Daniel could do was stare at the apparition that was before him, dressed in the most beautiful black and white gown he had ever seen (but not nearly as beautiful as the woman who wore it). "Wow."

Now was Janet's turn to blush, "Thanks. Let's go. General O'Neill, sir? Do you have the beaming device?"

Jack nodded, patting his pocket, "Yep, let's get going."

"Have fun!" Kris called as her family disappeared in a flash of white light. She sighed contentedly as she leaned back into her bed. Without a doubt in her mind, she _knew_ she was one of the luckiest women in the known universe.

Katie Currick was thrilled beyond belief that she had been the one allowed to cover the 10th anniversary black and white ball that President Williams was throwing for the SGC. She was still a bit frightened by the whole prospect of aliens being out there and wanting to take over Earth. I mean, it was her job to look pretty as she delivers the news to the millions of people in the US sitting safely at home drinking their morning coffee as Matt, Al, Ann and herself prattle on and on about the goings on of the world. Little had _any_ of them known that they should be hearing about the news from all over the _galaxy_ instead of just the planet.

Oh, well, two months ago all of that had changed and now she was among the top twenty elite reporters given permission (and a very pretty invitation embossed with gold) to cover the ball. Not all of the reporters were from the US; there were two from the States, one from Canada, three from France, _four_ from Russia, another two from China, one named Sandra Sully from Australia, one from South Africa, one from Great Britain, two from Spain, one from Italy, a German reporter, and a Japanese reporter.

Having spotted a man in a white tux who seemed to want to stand out from the rest, she started making her way to him, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a blinding white light appearing from the center of the room. When it had dissipated, she turned to where it had been only to see five people standing there, two women dressed in very expensive looking black ball gowns that almost put Katie's to shame, along with three men looking equally attired in black tuxedoes, except for the big black man who had come with the group. He was dressed in another pure white tux with a black undershirt. It just served to make him look darker and scarier – if that was possible.

The room erupted with applause as the SGC personnel at the ball recognized their leaders. It wasn't everyday that they caught something like _that_ on tape. The man in the group that had just appeared with silver hair bowed mockingly, only causing laughter to increase the volume.

One of the women in the group whispered something in his ear to which he just shrugged, kissing her cheek lightly. The applause grew with cat calls and wolf whistles added in for good measure. It was all Katie could do to not cover her ears at the ever-raising decibel level.

The woman the silver-haired man had kissed raised her hands, calling for silence. When the noise level had gone back down to a much more reasonable level, the silver fox, as Katie dubbed him in her mind, began to speak:

"Thank you all for the warm welcome. But I don't think that President Williams would like it if we kept the volume at that level. So just have fun!"

With that the band started playing a song for those inclined to dance and everyone went back to their individual conversations.

Katie tried desperately to make a path through the throng to reach the group she had now recognized as SG1 and the leaders of the SGC. She patted her light brown hair to make sure it was still in place before touching the blond haired woman, she remembered to be named General Carter, on the arm. "Excuse me, General Carter?"

Sam turned around and smiled, "Yes? It's Katie Currick, right?"

Katie smiled, "That's right. I was wondering if I could get a short interview with you about the Stargate program?"

Sam's smile was forced to such a degree that even Katie could recognize it, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm not here to cater to the desires of the paparazzi. If you want an interview, why don't you do what all the other journalists have done and schedule it through the base?"

"SG1 and the joint CO's of the base – I think that's what you're called – haven't given us any interviews other than the initial press conference. The people want to know who you are and what you specifically do." Katie's voice was strained; she really didn't expect to have someone deny _her_ the right to an interview.

"That's simple, they save the world." Katie and Sam turned at the same time to the voice. When Sam saw whom it was, her face lit up with a genuine smile at the man who had spoken.

"Hi Dad. I expected you to be caught up with doing the rounds until later," Sam said as her father kissed her cheek.

Jacob scoffed, "Nah, there's plenty of time to do them later. And it's not like I didn't see over half the people here two days ago."

Katie's eyes widened as she realized a real live alien was in front of her, "Pardon me, but you're Jacob Carter, right? Host to Selmak?"

Jacob half smiled, "That's right. And you are?"

"Katie Currick. So, is there actually a snake inside of you?"

Jacob's eyes flashed menacingly, "We _only_ tolerate that word from General O'Neill. And his is a special circumstance. I am Selmak, and we are Tok'ra."

"Ex-excuse me, sirs. I meant no disrespect."

"Yes, you did. You're a reporter, it's what you do. That doesn't mean we have to accept it, miss."

Across the room Jeff and Jack (who had been spending a growing amount of time together since Jeff started dating Kristie) could see the rising tension radiating off of the two Tauri and the Tok'ra and decided to do something about it.

"Jacob!" Jack called out happily as the two J-men neared their counterpart. "I was wondering if you could help us. See, we were wondering exactly how many times Anise tried to hit on Daniel last week. I say ten, but Jeff here thinks it was more around the lines of thirty. Care to settle this for us?"

Selmak bowed his head and Jacob took over, "Actually you're both wrong, it was fifty-two – and I have documented evidence for all of those encounters."

Just as the three J-men were leaving and Sam was dreading the next round of idiotic questions to come out of the mouth of the reporter, Teal'c came up next to them. "General Carter," he said with a bow of the head, "Would you care to dance?"

"I'd love to, thank you, Teal'c."

Katie growled low in her throat with annoyance at how obstinate these people were being. All she wanted was an _interview_ for goodness sake!

Jacob sent a relieved look to the two other men he was walking with as they approached the bar, "Thanks. Can you believe that woman had the gall to call Selmak a 'snake'?"

Jack looked horrified, "No! I thought only I was allowed to do that?"

"I know! Does no one read the memos around here?"

The three men sat there talking about nothing unparticular for about half an hour before Jacob's mind started going back to a question that had been nagging at him for weeks, "Jack? Why'd you punch her?"

Without needing to be reminded of who 'her' was, Jack paused before answering, "It wasn't just what she said. I could have handled that and much more from Kayley – and have for most of her life. But that was all about _me_ and how I was living _my_ life." He shook his head, "She was just being such a hypocrite and a bitch that I let my instincts take over and I did what I did."

Jacob nodded, "I can live with that. Now, about your mother –"

"Please, tonight I'm supposed to enjoy myself. Don't talk to me about my mother," Jack cut in quickly before the older man could say what Jack knew he would. The Brigadier General rose from the stool he had been sitting in swiftly and walked off, saying, "I think I'm going to go dance with my fiancée."

Jeff looked at Jacob, he had come to view this man as the father figure he had never had growing up. Jeff's own father had been a one-night stand with his mother – it was a miracle Jeff even knew the man's _name_. As it was Jeff O'Connor had never known his father even in the abstract sense and as a result had been given his mother's last name at birth. There after life had been… interesting at church for the lad. At home, though, his grandparents and his mother treated him with respect and love. She never once left him alone.

"Sir?" Jeff said. It was his custom to always begin a conversation with Jacob by calling him 'sir'. Frankly, he didn't know what else to refer to him as. 'Hey Gramps!' just didn't cut it in Jeff's eyes.

Jacob smiled slightly, "You know, Captain, it's alright to call me, Jacob. I only bite when I have to."

"Sorry, sir – I mean Jacob. It's just that maybe I can answer your question about Nana?"

Jacob eyed the young man suspiciously. It was Selmak who finally convinced her host to give it a shot. "Alright. She has cancer, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why isn't she doing chemo-therapy or radiation treatments?"

Jeff looked down, remembering when Nana had pulled him aside at Christmas Eve to ask him to take care of Kris and explain to him the answer to that very question.

Flashback:

"_Jeff, darling?" Nana asked quietly as everyone oohh-ed and ahh-ed over Sam and Kris's rings._

_The young man got up and knelt in front of the woman who would soon be his grandmother. "Yes, Nana?"_

"_Will you do something for me, dear?"_

"_What?"_

"_When I'm gone, look after Kristina? She's so much like her uncle – and her grandfather for that matter. Taking after those two can be a very good thing," she looked him in the eyes, "but it could also get her into some trouble. Make sure she's alright, please?"_

_Jeff smiled, trying to still the tears that were coming into his eyes, "Always and forever."_

_He got up to leave, but Nana grabbed his hand and pulled him back down to her level, "I need to explain something else to you, as well, dear." When she was positive she had his attention, she continued, "I am going to die because of this disease. There is no stopping that. It's my time and God is calling me home."_

"_What about chemo or other treatment options?"_

_Nana shook her gray head of hair; "It wouldn't work even if I tried it, now. The cancer has spread all throughout my lymph nodes. It's progressing a lot faster than they first believed. She gave a small, shaking smile, "By all rights and purposes I should be dead now. I'm holding on to see Kristina's children. One last ray of light before I surrender the Ghost."_

End Flashback.

Jeff turned to Jacob, "The cancer invaded her lymph nodes. There's really nothing the doctors can do."

Jacob furrowed his brow as he silently debated with Selmak. There _was_ a Tok'ra who was in need of a host, but Jacob didn't think that Jack O'Neill would let his own mother go through the blending process. _It's her decision in the long run, Jacob. And you know as well as I that it could save Iah's life!_ Jacob grumbled silently, 'Fine! I'll let them know that the option's available.'

Jack arrived right at the end of the song Teal'c was dancing with Sam to… briefly Sam thought Jack had picked up on timing from Thor or Daniel.

The song the band started to play was one of Jack's favorites, _To Make You Feel My Love_ by Billy Joel. The solo vocalist was doing such a good job of singing the lyrics he couldn't complain and as they danced to the song oblivious to everyone around them, Jack whispered the words into Sam's ear:

_When the rain is blowing in your face  
And the whole world is on your case  
I could offer you a warm embrace  
To make you feel my love_

_When the evening shadows and the stars appear  
And there is no one there to dry your tears  
I could hold you for a million years  
To make you feel my love_

When the SGC personnel listened to the song, they slowly exited the dance floor, and at their cue, the reporters and other politicians left the floor as well. This just left the infamous couple too occupied with each other to care about their surroundings.

_I know you haven't made your mind up yet  
But I would never do you wrong  
I've known it from the moment we met  
No doubt in my mind where you belong_

_I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue  
I'd go crawling down the avenue  
There's nothing that I wouldn't do  
To make you feel my love_

SG1 and the assembled Tok'ra and Jaffa heard that verse and thought of the many times Jack and Sam had literally put their lives on the back burner to save or rescue the other.

_The storms are raging on the rollin' sea  
And on the highway of regret  
The winds of change are blowing wild and free  
You ain't seen nothing like me yet_

_I could make you happy, make your dreams come true  
Nothing that I wouldn't do  
Go to the ends of the earth for you  
To make you feel my love_

Sam looked into Jack's eyes and saw only love there, love that was mirrored in her own. As they shared a passionate kiss, all that could be heard in the room was the thunder of applause as the workers at the base realized that the rumors were true, the Tok'ra and Jaffa were thrilled that what they had known to be fact since the first time they had met SG1 was openly known and the reporters tried desperately to remember anything and everything they knew about Air Force regulations.

All in all, this ball was turning out to be one of the best ideas President Williams had ever had, if he did say so himself.

Chapter Forty-three

Sam walked purposefully down the corridors of the SGC. She was a woman on a mission. That mission may get her in a lot of trouble, but it was necessary and had to be done. She was going to deal with Todd Howardson _once and for all_.

She arrived at holding cell Alpha ready to extract revenge on all the wrong and pain the boy had caused her soon to be niece. Flashing her ID at the guards before walking in as she checked the camera to make sure Daniel had done his job to get them off-line.

She dismissed the guards inside the room with a wave of her hand, they hesitated, "I just told you to _go_, Airmen. I may _not_ be the military leader of this facility but I _am_ a General."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," both men stuttered as they rushed from the wrath of the most powerful woman on base and probably in the whole country… if not the galaxy.

Sam turned her attention to Todd, who was watching her with fear in his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice betraying his emotions.

Sam's eyes were so cold it was hard to believe that this was the same woman who risked her life to stop the beating of an innocent. "Revenge," was all she said.

Much to the surprise of Todd, she didn't advance on his cell (which still had the security system in place in case he tried to escape), she just sat down in a chair and watched him, waiting for something unknown to Todd.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked when he couldn't take the silence any longer.

Her smile was colder than her eyes, "Not what, but _whom_."

Moments later there was a knock on the door, and Todd felt the pit in his stomach grow as he realized that this was the 'who' she had been talking about. The door opened and in walked Jack, Bra'tac and Teal'c. The holding room door was closed again and Teal'c stood in front of it, blocking off any ill-conceived notions of escape.

"What's this?" Todd asked, surprise in his voice.

"This," Bra'tac spat out, "is the Jaffa custom known on Earth as a duel. There's only one rule – someone must die. And _you_, hat'aka, are that someone. _We_ are here as witnesses so that the honor of the victor will not be damaged."

Todd gulped, somehow he knew that he was about to die. The feeling only grew when Jack stepped forward, removing his jacket to reveal the knife he had in his waistband.

The fight was over fairly quickly. Todd hadn't stood a chance. Jack loomed over him, prepared to make the final cut with his knife. But first, he was going to do the honorable thing and give Todd a chance to hear Jack's thoughts.

"Bastard," Jack spit out. "Bet you didn't realize that Kris talks in her sleep, did you?"

Todd's eyes widened. He hadn't been counting on that.

When the younger man looked up, Jack's eyes were colder than Sam's had been. "She started remembering two months ago. You scum. I should kill you now – but that's not good enough for you. I'll feed you to the wolves."

Jack rose, removing his knife from Todd's throat. He turned to Teal'c and nodded. The big Jaffa stepped forward as Jack motioned for Sam to follow him out of the room.

Sam turned to Jack when they were in the hallway, handing him a towel so he could remove the small drops of blood that had accumulated on his hands. "Why did we leave?"

Jack looked at her, his eyes still cold. It was a very good thing she knew that coldness wasn't directed even remotely at her. "Because if they ever find out the fewer witnesses the better. And Teal'c and Bra'tac are Jaffa – they know how to kill a lot better than we do, Sam." His eyes softened, "It had to be done. When Kris started having those nightmares…" he trailed off, unable to say the rage he felt when he figured out what had really happened that night. "Let's just say it's a very good thing we thought Todd was dead at the time."

Sam went to visit Kris after the 'encounter' with Todd. When Jack had first told her the plan for disposing of the rapist, Sam thought she would feel a little guilty after it all. It wasn't until Jack had told her _why_ he was going to kill him that the guilt started to dissipate. Now she was walking to Iso room 3 with the knowledge that the father of her niece's children was dead.

When Sam walked in, she was surprised to find Jeff absent from Kristie's side. The pregnant teen looked at her uncle's fiancée and said, "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Who?" Sam asked, trying to play innocent.

"Todd."

Sam suddenly grew uncomfortable, placing her hands in her pockets and rocking back and forth on her heels. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, Sam. It's all right, though. Uncle Jack _asked_ me if it's what I wanted after he found out that I was remembering what happened that night. I told him to do what he thought would be best." Sam stopped her rocking and went to kneel at Kris's bedside. "He raped me, Sam. There's no way around that. Todd put something in my drink – some kind of sedative – and he raped me." Kristie shook her head, "I think for a while I didn't remember because my subconscious was trying to protect me. I only started to remember after he died the first time."

Sam hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this." Tears started to flow from both of their eyes, each remembering the day that they were taken advantage of by a man they had trusted.

One mantra was playing through both of their minds, 'It's not my fault. It's not my fault.'

Sam pulled away, "There's a local group for rape victims, Kris. I attend it when I start to digress into depression. They're meeting tonight if you want to come with me."

Tears flowed anew from Kris's eyes, "I'd like that. You know that Nana refused to take a symbiote, right?"

Sam nodded, "Hearing her say that was so hard. She could be dead at any time, and even when she's given an opportunity at life she refuses. Jack's so much like her in that way."

"She's had a good life."

Annabelle Watson looked at her group of seven women, so sad to see that Sam had brought someone with her, yet happy that the woman had finally shared her trial with her friends. It had been something Annabelle had been trying to get Sam to do ever since she first moved to Colorado Springs.

It broke Annabelle's heart that the young woman her friend had brought with her was confined to a wheel chair – and obviously pregnant with more than one child. _Maybe triplets_, Annabelle thought.

The group sat down and Annabelle started to speak, "I'm very pleased that all of you decided to come tonight. As you can see we have a hero in our midst – along with a new member."

"Annabelle, you've known me for years – I'm no hero," Sam said as she recalled how Annabelle thought Sam had entered another violent relationship when the astrophysicist started showing up to meetings sporting casts and bruises. Annabelle, a South African woman of about fifty-three, had been the abused in two failed marriages.

"A hero is simply someone that others can look up to, Samantha," Annabelle said, wisely. "And who is our young friend, dear?"

Kristie looked at the group and saw only faces filled with sadness at her presence and concern, "Hello. My name's Kristina. And I was raped six months ago by my best friend's brother."

"Hello, Kristina," the group replied in unison.

As the meeting progressed and each woman shared how she was feeling since her rape – or rapes in the case of Sam and two others (Annabelle included) – Kris felt for the first time since she started to remember that yes, maybe it really was going to be okay.

Chapter Forty-four

Marriage was the only thing on Jack's mind as he waited with his groom's men for the president to arrive. He was getting married in little less than an hour – marriage to his wonderful Carter _better_ be the only thing on his mind. He was sweating like a pig in his dress blues.

"Are you well, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked when he noticed that the younger man was not moving at all except to breath.

Jack glanced at the large Jaffa sideways, "Fine, Teal'c. By the way, did I mention that you look really nice in that suit?"

"Indeed, you have, O'Neill. Samantha has told me thus as well on many occasions."

"Well it's true."

"And I don't?" Daniel asked mock indignantly.

"Aww, Danny. I didn't know you cared!"

"Sam! Just breath!" Janet commanded as the other woman started to hyperventilate.

Sam looked at Janet with fear and joy in her big baby blue eyes, "I'm getting married today. I'm marrying Jack O'Neill. I'm about to marry my Colonel – and you're telling me to be calm!"

"Yes!"

"Okay!"

Kris shared a look with Cassie (who had come to the SGC for the wedding from college), both of them laughing silently at Sam's antics.

"Come on, Sam," Janet said, coaxingly. "We need to get you dressed. You're getting married in little less than half an hour."

"You've seen _The Princess Bride_ too many times," Sam muttered as she rose, discarding the robe she had on over her under garments.

The wedding dress was a simple white empire waist gown that Sam's mother had worn on her wedding day. Strapless and stunning, it left just enough to the imagination of the groom. The floor length material shimmered in the light as Sam's leg was able to be seen through the narrow slit that ran up the front, allowing her movement in the tight dress.

All the bride's maids could think of was that she was beautiful. If there was a true goddess named Aphrodite, she would find Samantha Carter (soon to be O'Neill) competition enough for the title of 'fairest in the land'.

Janet was dressed in a peridot maid of honor dress that came to just above her knees, and was strapless with no slits. It had a faint tapering at the waist, and a slight flare for the skirt, made with silk like material, it made her look like a princess or a queen. Cassie and Kristie would both be acting as bride's maids during the ceremony, Kristie braving the short fifteen-minute ritual and standing. It must be that O'Neill stubbornness but she refused to be confined to a wheel chair during her uncle's wedding. Both teens were dressed in peridot gowns like Janet's and made of the same material, but in different styles to portray the differing tastes of the women. Cassie's came down to mid-calf and looked very much like the dress a 50's housewife would wear. Kristina's had more of a pixie flare to it coming exactly to her knees.

"Knock, knock?" Jacob asked as he opened the door to the room the bridal party was waiting in. When he saw his daughter he was speechless, she looked so much like her mother. "You look beautiful, Sammie."

Sam smiled, tears forming in her eyes, "Thank you, Dad."

Moments later there was another knock on the door and when Jacob opened it, he found Daniel Jackson on the other side, his eyes screwed shut so if Jack asked him what Sam looked like he could honestly say he didn't know. "Umm, President Williams just arrived. We're all ready to start. John got here five minutes ago so it looks like plan A is up and running."

Sam started giggling it was so like Daniel to say something like that. "I'm not marrying _you_, Daniel. It's alright for you to see me before the wedding."

He shook his head, a blush rising in his cheeks, "Nope, if Jack finds me and wants to know how you look I want to honestly say I don't know."

Amazingly enough for the famed members of SG1, the ceremony went off without a hitch. By the end of it, there was one less Carter and one more O'Neill, so all were very thrilled with the results. Kris even managed to get through the whole evening on her poor ankles that hadn't held her weight for so long in months.

"Have fun you two!" Daniel called as the newlyweds were whisked away through the Stargate to the planet they had previously spent a week on with Teal'c, after they had successfully blown up Thor's ship eliminating the Replicator threat to Earth… for the most part.

"Yeah! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Cassie called from beside him.

"You wish, Cass!" Jack called back before Sam dragged him through the wormhole.

"Hey! What was that for?" he complained when they were on the other side. Jack barely noticed the bottle of champagne that rolled to a stop at their feet from the wormhole before it disengaged.

Sam pulled him into a lip lock that set his mind reeling at what they should be doing at the moment. "Sometimes you can be such a child," she whispered before pulling him back down, not concerned in the slightest about her pure white dress. _It's just a dress_, she reasoned in her mind. After all, this was the start of her marriage.

January 21, 2009 – their wedding day.

Exactly three weeks to the day, Sam and Jack returned home from their honeymoon to find that the SGC had not blown up in their absence and that everything was well under the control of Hammond, Teal'c and Daniel. Or so they thought.

The first thing Daniel did upon their return was hug Jack and Sam until they thought they were going to pop in two – only to have the experience replicated by Teal'c and then General Hammond.

"Okay, campers," Jack said seriously, "What did you do to our base?"

Daniel and Hammond shared a look that reminded Sam of two children just caught doing something they really shouldn't have been doing… like playing with Mommy and Daddy's _very_ expensive 'toys'.

Teal'c was the only one of the three brave enough to answer (probably because he was the only one who didn't do anything _terribly_ wrong), "The most pressing concern is that Kristina O'Neill has just gone into labor again."

Before you could say 'DHD' Sam and Jack had dropped their bags and were running for all they were worth to Kristie's room.

Daniel looked at Teal'c, "Thanks for not blowing our cover, T."

Teal'c grinned, looking really scary, "Indeed. But, as the Tau'ri are known to say, you now 'owe me one'."

"Have you been hanging out with Allie again?"

"Indeed. She is most excited now that she knows the truth about what and who I am."

"Janet!" Kristie cried in pain, "It hurts. It hurts so bad."

Janet looked sadly at the girl whose water had broken only minutes before, "I know it does sweety, but I can't give you an epidural, it's too dangerous. Dr. Warner is on his way, and he'll deliver your babies safe and sound in a caesarian section. It's going to be alright." Janet tried to calm the girl's fears, but knew she was fighting a loosing battle.

"Where's Sam? Where's Jack? And where the hell is Jeff?" Kris yelled again as another contraction hit – this one was worse than the last ones by far. If Dr. Warner didn't show up soon when he did he wasn't going to be able to reproduce – _ever again_.

"I'm here!" Dr. Warner said as he quickly strode into the room. "How far along is she, Dr. Fraiser?"

"Her water broke a few minutes ago. We need to get her into surgery right now if we're going to save their lives."

Dr. Warner made the mistake of getting a little too close to Kristina's hand. It shot up and grabbed his collar, bringing him down to her level, "GET THEM OUT OF ME!"

At that moment Sam, Jack and Jeff all ran in to find Kris yelling at a very frightened Dr. Warner.

"Kristie," Sam said calmly, "It's going to be alright, but Dr. Warner can't deliver your babies if you don't let go of him. We're here now, everything's going to be all right."

"It hurts, so much," Kris cried as she released the good doctor from her death grip. Jeff and Jack flanked Kris, and held both of her hands as Dr. Warner prepped for the C. Section.

Two hours later, Kris was gazing sleepily down at her children. It was a tight fit, but she had just managed to get all four of them into her arms at once – of course they were also leaning against her knees for support.

"They're so beautiful," she said softly to Jeff who was sitting on the bed beside her, gazing at his new charges. "I can't believe the doctors found them all in perfect health so quickly." She looked up at her fiancé, "I mean, they just got born two months premature. And they're perfect."

Jeff looked down at Kristie, "Just like their mother."

The family enjoyed a few more minutes of peace before there was a knock on the door and Jack poked his head through, "You guys up for visitors?"

Kris smiled, "Come on in. Oh, and tell Ferretti that he can come in, too. I know he's just _dying_ to know who won the pool on the names."

Jack wheeled in Nana, and was quickly followed by the rest of SG1, and the leader of SG2, along with General Hammond.

Jack and Nana were the first to approach the bed, looking at her great-grandchildren, she whispered, "Now I can die in peace."

Kristie shook her head, "There will be no talk of dying today, and you haven't even heard their names, yet."

Asking permission through his eyes, Jack picked up one of the babies, "Hey, little one," he cooed softly, knowing perfectly well that the babe was deep in the land of slumber.

Kris nodded to Jeff when he also silently asked if it would be alright if he were to hand the babies to their namesakes. He picked up one of the twins in a pink blanket and handed her to Nana before handing the other child wrapped in pink to Sam. The last one, the second boy, Jeff put in the loving arms of General Hammond.

The mother smiled, "And now you know. Jack is holding Michael Jacob-Daniel, or as Dr. Warner referred to him – 'Baby C'. Sam is holding little Samantha Cosette, or 'Baby A'." She turned to her grandmother and tears came to her eyes as she whispered, "Nana, you're holding Jacqueline Rose." Nana gasped at how sentimental her granddaughter could be. She was, after all, named Jacqueline, and Rose had been the name of her own dearly beloved mother.

"Thank you, Kristina. That's one of the best gifts you could have given me."

Turning now to General Hammond, Jeff concluded, "And to conclude the naming, we'd like you all to meet Baby D, Elijah George-William. Got that, Ferretti?"

"Yep, I got that." Ferretti couldn't help himself. The family just looked so perfect as they stood there, marveling in the new names. Slowly he got out his camera and snapped a few pictures of them all just standing there. Kris caught his eye and smiled, telling him it was perfectly fine for him to take them. After all, she needed something to remember her grandmother by, not to mention something to mark the enlargement of Jack's forever growing family.

Fin

Epilogue

"Hurry up!" Jeff yelled down to SG7, who was having a race to see who could put together their crib the fastest. "Kris is coming home with the babies tomorrow! We still need to organize all the babies' things!"

Major Windsly from SG7 muttered, "Why in the world did we let you talk us into this, Jeff?" as he put the final bolt into place on the crib he was putting together. "Done!" he cried out happily.

Jeff shook his head at the other man, "Because if you didn't SG10 would tell the base what we were _really_ rescuing you guys from."

Captain Lee looked up in horror at that right after she put the final touches on her crib, "You wouldn't dare!"

Colonel Lee, the CO of SG10, smirked at the Captain's unease, "Care to test that theory, Captain?"

The black haired woman just glared, "You may work with them, Joseph, but remember, dear: You _live_ with me."

Joseph Lee gulped as his wife stared him down. Oh, boy, he was _definitely_ sleeping over at Bob's house if that piece of information got out.

"Yes, Martha."

Martha Lee smiled, pleased with herself, "Good. Now, what's next?"

Jeff looked at the checklist he had made up two days before. With only three days to get everything ready for the babies' and Kris's arrival at their new house, Jeff had been required to call in reinforcements to get everything done on time. "Umm, I think the only things left now are sorting the clothes and the toys and putting in their containers.

The CO of SG7, Lt. Colonel Smith, looked at his team, "You heard the man, let's _move_!"

SG10 was busy putting up the star constellations on the ceiling of the large nursery when SG7 made their appearance. Martha took charge of the situation right off the bat. She may only have been the 2IC of SG7, but she was the only woman there and had a _very_ good idea how to organize things for the children in a way that Kristina would like.

"Okay, I want Bob and Leo sorting out the toys into two groups – one loud, play toys, the other stuffed animals that do _not_, and I stress _not_ make noise. Micah, you and I are going to sort out all of the clothing first, then fold it before putting it away in the proper dresser. Two piles to start off with – boy and girl. From there we need to sort out what needs to be hung up, and what can be put in the dresser. Let's move, people!"

Jeff smiled thanks at the other Captain before going about his job of putting up the shelves for the stuffed animals.

Two hours later, everyone was done with the nursery which was the last room that had needed decorated. They all sighed in relief and pride at what their hard work had accomplished. Jeff had chosen the second largest room to house the nursery because it was closest to the master bedroom and had a window facing east. Four cribs were aligned a few feet from the wall the window was housed on. Each crib had a different initial; J, S, E, and M carved into the wood. Separating the cribs for his sons from his daughters' cribs were two rocking chairs set at an angle, an afghan thrown over the backs of each. There were four antique dressers on opposite walls, two of which flanked the closet door.

Murals of Thor and Lya adorned the unadulterated wall. Their hands were brought up in a motion of protection and offering and above their hands were the shelves for the stuffed animals. At the base of the wall stood two hope chests filled to the brim with other toys that the newborns couldn't play with just yet. With the semi-sheer curtains drawn, the room looked perfect the only thing it was missing, was the babies it was designed to keep safe and sound. One of the eyes of Thor in the mural was three-dimensional. The only people who knew what that eye really was were SG1, Jeff, and Hammond. He would tell Kris as soon as she saw it, if she didn't figure it out on her own.

"We did good, guys," Jeff whispered, afraid he'd ruin the moment, "Thanks."

"Come on, Jeff," Kris whined, "I didn't see you all day yesterday and you won't even tell me where you were!"

He smiled at her impatience, "You'll see." A growl was emitted from Kris's closed mouth as she grew even more frustrated with her fiancée.

"We're here." Jeff said as he pulled up to their new house. It was two stories tall with six bedrooms on the second floor, and then the living room, family room, kitchen, and laundry on the first floor. It also had 3.5 bathrooms and 4,000 square feet of space. In anyone's books, it was _huge_. There was a loft that Jeff and Kris had decided to convert into a play area for the children when they grew older, and a basement that would be used as the 'den' or Jeff's personal space. Kristie chose to convert one of the spare bedrooms to an office area for her to use. Jeff and she had already decided that the girls would share one bedroom and the boys another so they didn't feel isolated in the big house.

The house lay on an acre of wooded area, with a stream running through the middle of it. It was Kristie's dream house and she knew when she saw it on-line that it didn't matter if it cost her a small fortune (which it did) she was going to buy it.

Right behind the new Grand Caravan the couple had purchased, pulled up Jack's truck with the members of SG1 inside. As they got out of the cars, all they could do was whistle in admiration at the find Kris had made.

Jeff smirked at his soon to be in-laws, "Just wait until you see inside. That's the real treat. Come on, the nursery's our first stop."

SG1 (even though all of them were no longer technically on the team they were still referred to as such) each took a baby from the Grand Caravan (except for Daniel – he was still a little scared that he might hurt the baby) as Jeff unlocked the door because Kristie had her arms full with Jacqueline.

Being led through the house, Kris couldn't help but think that it looked so much bigger and perfect then the virtual tour she had taken before.

Jeff led them all up the stairs to the third door on the right it had a big green bow tied to it to make it look like a present. "Ready?" he asked everyone. They only nodded in response.

There was a universal gasp as Jeff opened the door to reveal the surprise he had been working on for three days. "Do you like it?" he questioned nervously as Kris walked in and put Jacquie in the crib designated 'J'. The others holding the sleeping babies followed suit and placed them in their perspective cribs. To keep the four of them easily recognizable, Janet had them each wrapped in a different color blanket.

When Kris turned around, Jeff could see tears running silently down her face. She opened her arms wide as he came over and gave her a hug, "What's wrong? You hate it, don't you?"

The new mother laughed at Jeff, "No, no I love it. It's just so beautiful. And these damn hormones have me crying at every opportunity! Thank you."

Before he could respond, there was a flash of white light and Thor appeared in the middle of the room. The couple broke apart and Kris smiled watery at her friend, "Thor. Thank you for everything."

The Asgard bowed his head slightly, "My gifts to you are not over yet, Kristie. Notice the left eye in the mural Daniel Jackson painted of me." Kris turned, saw the protruding portion of the wall and looked back at Thor. "It is a teleportation device. If there is ever a need, it will transport you, your mate and your children to either the SGC, my ship, or the Prometheus, whichever the device deems to be the most secure." There was a smaller flash of light and suddenly Thor was holding four tiny bracelets, "These will protect your children further. Once they are placed on their wrists, they will only be able to be removed by the wearer. If the children are ever in any kind of danger, the bracelets will transport them to safety."

"Thank you, again, Thor. This means so much to me." Kristie replied as Jack and Sam put the bracelets on the sleeping babes.

"But what happens when they start to grow?" Daniel asked curiously.

"The bracelets will grow with them, Daniel Jackson. And they will become the most comfortable fit for each child. I designed them specifically for the purposes of comfort and security for the children. They are very important people."

"Yeah," Jack said, "The beginning of a whole new race."

* * *

A/N: For those of you who would like to find out what happens next check out the sequel: _A New Life_.


End file.
